Fresno Unified trustees shoot down proposal to add English only classes to bilingual school

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's a huge victory for parents and students at Sunset Elementary School.

A majority of Fresno Unified trustees shot down a proposal that would have added more than 400 students to sunset elementary. It included boundary changes that would have alleviated overcrowding at neighboring schools.

Dozens of students and their families showed up to Wednesday night's meeting hoping to convince board members that adding an English-only curriculum to the school would take away from the dual-immersion experience. Sunset is a 100-percent dual immersion school that teaches students to be bilingual. It starts them off speaking 90-percent Spanish and 10-percent English in kindergarten and eventually ending in sixth grade speaking fifty-fifty. "I know everyone is super satisfied with the decision that came out today. We had a lot of parent support here and we are just so excited," said Joanna Huerta, parent.

"I was really impressed. Kind of on the fence-- not sure how they're going to go. I was really happy to hear them question why and how are we going to fix this and how is this going to happen," said Adela Jordan, PTA president.

Parents hope that Wednesday's decision means Fresno Unified will invest more in the dual immersion school and help it grow.

It's possible board members could discuss a new proposal on boundary changes at one of their meetings next month.