A group of six Palo Alto parents spoke to the Board of Education during a brief public comment session at its annual retreat Wednesday, making passionate, personal pleas for the district’s Mandarin immersion program to extend into middle school.

The parents submitted a proposal in February and are asking that the board institute this fall a middle school level pilot version of the once controversial and now successfulprogram at Ohlone Elementary School, which began as a three-year pilot program in fall 2008. Since then, about 132 students have enrolled each year, with about 22 students in two sections each of three combination-grade classes, according to district Communications Coordinator Tabitha Kappeler-Hurley.

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Beth’s comment: It’s really unconscionable to have a Mandarin immersion program that only runs through fifth grade. It’s like cutting it off at the knees, as just as the kids are hitting their stride in Mandarin the cease getting any instruction.