Some Utah parents say immersion create two-tiered schools

BECKY WRIGHT invites her daughter, Vivian, to speak the Chinese words she has learned from her older siblings, at a board meeting last month.

FARMINGTON—Dual immersion programs at elementary schools in Davis School District have become a major point of debate during public comment periods at meetings of the Davis School District Board of Education.

Board members instituted a public comment period last year and in the past several months, the majority who speak are either strongly in favor or strongly opposed to dual immersion in elementary schools.

The programs, which offer studies of a second language beginning as early as kindergarten, are now established in 11 of the district’s 60 elementary schools. That will grow to 12 of 62 when Canyon Creek in Farmington opens with a Spanish program in the fall.

During public hearings on boundary changes for the new elementary schools last December, a large contingent of parents complained that children who were not enrolled in language programs were being treated as second-class citizens and score lower on standardized tests.

In subsequent meetings, parents – and in one case, a student – have stood to either support or oppose the program.