Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

US Approval of Israel’s Gaza Offensive Drops to 32%, Poll Shows

2 hours ago

Trump Eyes Aug 1 Trade Deals as EU, China Talks Continue, US Commerce Chief Says

3 hours ago

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

1 day ago

California Governor Candidate Stirs Outrage With Auschwitz ‘Unemployment Plan’ Post

1 day ago

Gold Price to Stay Above $3,000/Oz as Flight to Safety Endures

1 day ago

S&P, Nasdaq at Record Highs as US-EU Trade Deal Sparks Optimism in Pivotal Week

1 day ago

Trump Warns Iran That Its Nuclear Sites Could Be Bombed Again

1 day ago

Israel Announces Daily Pauses in Gaza Fighting as Aid Airdrops Begin

2 days ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

3 days ago

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

4 days ago
ACLU Complaint Says Fresno Unified Fails English Learner Families
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 5 years ago on
August 6, 2020

Share

The ACLU of Northern California says Fresno Unified School District violated the civil rights of English learners and failed to follow California Department of Education and district requirements when it failed to remove language barriers that limit parent participation, including helping the district decide how to allocate its resources.

The complaint, filed Tuesday on behalf of Familias Empoderadas (Empowered Families), is requesting a series of remedies that include employing one-on-one tutors for all long-term English learners and creating a club for parents of English learners.

Fresno Unified spokeswoman Vanessa Ramirez said Wednesday afternoon that the district received the document late Tuesday.

“It would be premature to comment before our team has had time to fully review” it, Ramirez said in an email.

Translation Services Lacking

The ACLU complaint alleges that Fresno Unified:

  • Refused to meet with parents on their preferred Zoom platform, which has more accurate translations than Microsoft Teams and Google Translate. Forcing parents to use the district’s platform exposes them to “possible security threats” because the district’s platform collects surveillance data, the complaint alleges.
  • Failed to provide public documents that have been translated accurately from English to Spanish to make them comprehensible to members of Familias Empoderadas.
  • Created barriers to meaningful participation for parents of English learners.
  • After schools closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the district failed to communicate effectively with members of district advisory English learner committees concerning committee meetings, and failed to communicate with parents of English learners about remote learning.

Familias Empoderadas, which has been advocating for improvements for English learners, “had to fight to get the Board to even send school board meeting agendas in languages other than English, including access to a publicly-available translation of the District’s Master Plan for English Learners,” the complaint says.

The complaint cites statistics showing that nearly all English learners are failing to meet state standards in English and math, and are likelier to drop out before graduation from high school.

It alleges that English learners have been “marginalized” in the process in which the district determines how to fund programs, known as the Local Control and Accountability Plan.

Those plans are on hold in the 2020-21 school year because of the coronavirus pandemic and have been replaced by another LCAP — the Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan, which districts must present to the Department of Education by September.  Like the original LCAP, the new plan is supposed to have stakeholder participation.

Parents Seek Changes

Among the remedies sought by the ACLU complaint:

  • Training to enable teachers and staff to be culturally competent and sensitive to the needs of English learners.
  • An equitable individualized learning plan for each English learner that will produce progress data monitored by the district.
  • Certified counselors to provide “one-on-one holistic counseling services” for English learners.
  • Dedicated LCAP funding for programs to benefit English learners, including bilingual or dual-language immersion programs for all
    schools with more than 50 English learners.
  • All materials sent to the homes of English learners from the district or the students’ schools should be in their home language and translated by professional and effective services.
  • The district will hire and train professional translators for board and LCAP meetings.
  • Develop a plan on how the district will address these requested remedies and provide quarterly progress reports to the ACLU for the next two school years, and semiannually after that until 2027.


DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Will Pay Nikki Henry $162K Without Board’s Public Vote

DON'T MISS

FAA Failed to Act Before Helicopter Crash, Transport Chief Says

DON'T MISS

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

DON'T MISS

UK Will Recognize Palestinian Statehood in September, Barring Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

DON'T MISS

Homicide Suspect Arrested in Texas for 2023 Fresno Killing

DON'T MISS

New Gallup Poll Reveals Most Immoral Behaviors In America

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Mia Regina Esquivel

DON'T MISS

Trump’s EPA to Repeal Core of Greenhouse Gas Rules in Major Deregulatory Move

DON'T MISS

How Israel’s War With Hamas Became Unjust

DON'T MISS

US Approval of Israel’s Gaza Offensive Drops to 32%, Poll Shows

UP NEXT

New Gallup Poll Reveals Most Immoral Behaviors In America

UP NEXT

Questions Linger After Beloved Superintendent Exits a Merced County School District

UP NEXT

Trump Asks for Swift Deposition of Murdoch in Epstein Defamation Case

UP NEXT

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

UP NEXT

Video-Sharing App Vine Is Returning ‘in AI Form’, Musk Says

UP NEXT

CBS News Taps Tanya Simon as New Boss of ’60 Minutes’ After Trump Lawsuit

UP NEXT

Doctor Pleads Guilty to Supplying Ketamine to ‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry

UP NEXT

US Olympic Officials Bar Transgender Women From Women’s Competitions

UP NEXT

US Appeals Court Will Not Lift Limits on Associated Press Access to White House

UP NEXT

NPR’s Top Editor Edith Chapin to Step Down

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

UK Will Recognize Palestinian Statehood in September, Barring Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

36 minutes ago

Homicide Suspect Arrested in Texas for 2023 Fresno Killing

41 minutes ago

New Gallup Poll Reveals Most Immoral Behaviors In America

1 hour ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Mia Regina Esquivel

1 hour ago

Trump’s EPA to Repeal Core of Greenhouse Gas Rules in Major Deregulatory Move

2 hours ago

How Israel’s War With Hamas Became Unjust

2 hours ago

US Approval of Israel’s Gaza Offensive Drops to 32%, Poll Shows

2 hours ago

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Seeks Release on $50-Million Bond Ahead of Sentencing

2 hours ago

Gaza Death Toll Hits 60,000 as Global Monitor Demands Action to Avert Famine

3 hours ago

US Consumer Confidence Rises Modestly in July

3 hours ago

Fresno Unified Will Pay Nikki Henry $162K Without Board’s Public Vote

Now that Fresno Unified has an official, six-figure settlement agreement for its former communications chief, the district says the contract...

11 minutes ago

Fresno Unified keeping Nikki Henry vote quiet
11 minutes ago

Fresno Unified Will Pay Nikki Henry $162K Without Board’s Public Vote

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy testifies before a House Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Transportation budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 14, 2025. (Reuters File)
14 minutes ago

FAA Failed to Act Before Helicopter Crash, Transport Chief Says

Marjorie Taylor Greene in Capitol Hill hearing
27 minutes ago

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

Displaced Palestinians wait in front of a charity kitchen in the western Gaza City area, July 23, 2025. Two government officials said Britain was actively weighing the recognition of a Palestinian state, in a shift driven by public pressure over starvation in Gaza. (Saher Alghorra/The New York Times)
36 minutes ago

UK Will Recognize Palestinian Statehood in September, Barring Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

Cristino Paul Rocha, 48, is accused of a 2023 fatal shooting in Fresno was arrested in Texas on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, and will be extradited to face murder charges. (Fresno PD)
41 minutes ago

Homicide Suspect Arrested in Texas for 2023 Fresno Killing

Man with smart phone in bedroom, woman sleeping in the background
1 hour ago

New Gallup Poll Reveals Most Immoral Behaviors In America

Mia Regina Esquivel is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for July 29, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
1 hour ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Mia Regina Esquivel

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks during the signing of the memorandum of understanding between U.S. and Mexico to achieve a permanent solution to the decades-old Tijuana River sewage crisis, in Mexico City, Mexico July 24, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Trump’s EPA to Repeal Core of Greenhouse Gas Rules in Major Deregulatory Move

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend