Long Beach Unified may reverse its plans to consolidate middle school Spanish-English dual immersion programs following significant public pressure to continue the program on the Westside.
In December, the district announced that, beginning in 2027-28, it would merge the dual immersion programs at Keller and Stephens Middle Schools, relocating them to a site in Lakewood to accommodate increasing demand for dual immersion. Yet parents of students at Stephens Middle School, dubbed “the pride of the Westside,” said the move would drain talent and opportunities from an underserved community and make transportation to the new location difficult, if not impossible.
On Tuesday evening, more than 60 parents, students and local leaders filled the Stephens Middle School library to discuss alternatives. District officials proposed several options that would eventually end the school’s dual immersion program, which families resoundingly rejected.
Yet families expressed openness and enthusiasm to the district’s proposal that dual immersion could remain at Stephens if at least 70 students enroll in the program in fall 2027 — a threshold LBUSD uses to determine whether a new program is feasible.
David Zaid, LBUSD’s new superintendent, said that the district would take steps to make the Stephens program sustainable, including by surveying current Stephens families, better marketing the program and considering enrolling students in Stephens for the coming academic year.
The district’s chief academic officer, Brian Moskovitz, added that the district would contact the families of all students in a fifth-grade dual immersion program to let them know that Stephens Middle School is still an option.
Still, meeting attendees expressed frustration at a pattern they said they’ve seen in the district: starting successful programs on the Westside and taking them to more affluent communities in East Long Beach. “You’re taking Westside talent,” said Tonia Uranga, a former councilmember and current president of Long Beach’s chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
“We’re tired of seeing everything go that way,” she added and asked LBUSD to offer evidence that it will continue the program and make financial commitments to ensure its success.
Multiple school board members attended the meeting, including Maria Isabel López, who identified herself as a product of Stephens. Investment in schools and programs on the Westside set her and her siblings up to attend competitive four-year universities, she said. “That is what you get in return when you invest in the Westside.”
Parents emphasized that although the Stephens dual immersion program is currently small — enrolling about 30 students in the first class of sixth graders last school year — it has already been successful. In 2024, Stephens was honored as a California Distinguished School, an award that should be more widely marketed, they said, and a testament to the excellence of Westside students.
If given the chance, the program will grow, they said.
Stephens parent Tia Hart presented 50 signatures as part of a petition to keep dual immersion at Stephens and reminded district leaders of their roles: “You are in service to the people of the Westside,” she said. “This movement is growing.”