DLAC urges stronger family engagement, ParentVUE access and college/career advising for multilingual learners

Johnson Horat Demdinsurin, an educational integration specialist representing the District English Learner Advisory Committee (DLAC), presented a set of recommendations based on a needs assessment and engagement with school sites and families. He said DLAC engaged 28 school sites and about 34 multilingual families to inform recommendations that emphasize culturally informed practices, the use of data, and stronger family engagement.

Parent leaders Anna Aviles, Yuan Yuan Shu and Myrna Vescott (read by Maggie Zhou) described specific proposals: increase outreach to boost site-level ELAC participation; have the Department of Communications run campaigns in families' home languages to raise awareness of ELAC and DLAC work; increase ParentVUE accessibility and provide user-research-informed interface improvements and training sessions in major district languages; and expand college and career-readiness counseling for English learners with reporting back to DLAC on progress.

Superintendent Wayne and board members thanked DLAC for the recommendations and acknowledged that some items are already "in progress" or "planned." Commissioners pressed for clearer guardrails, timelines and accountability: where and how recommendations will be reflected in the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and how progress will be measured at classroom and site levels. The superintendent said a documented response will accompany LCAP actions and be provided before the next school year (noted date: June 20 in the presentation).

DLAC members and staff requested regular check-ins and clear reporting about implementation. District staff said they will work with departments (e.g., Multilingual Pathways, Technology, Communications) to implement recommendations and that status updates will show actions that are in progress, planned, or pending follow-up.

The board invited public comment in support of DLAC recommendations; speakers from parent groups and APAC voiced support for immediate action and accountability.