effectively as possible.” Parental involvement in decisions regarding the education of their children is requested. At initial enrollment and annually thereafter, parents are notified of the educational options for their children, including waivers for alternative programs. Students enrolled at self-contained, stand-alone sites may have an English Learner program that looks different from students at a cluster site, where students move from classroom to classroom, because teachers are working with students at many language levels, as well as academic, without an option to receive services in another classroom. The teacher and educational assistant will work with students in small groups and design activities that ensure students will obtain English language proficiency. Parent Exception Waiver Process Parents of newly enrolled EL students will be given a description of the different instructional program choices and all the educational opportunities available to their child. Parental Exception Waivers will be made available to EL parents. Parents will be directed to meet with the school principal to complete the waiver process. Individual sites where 20 students or more of a given grade level of the same language, and who receive an approved waiver shall be required to offer such a class. San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools will honor waivers whenever feasible, as per the terms of the law.
Section 311 of CA Ed. Code 300 describes the three circumstances in which a Parental Exception Waiver may be granted:
Children who already know English: The child already possesses good English Language skills as measured by a locally administered assessment that focuses on vocabulary comprehension, reading and writing, in which the child scores at or above proficient for his/her grade level or at or above the 5 th grade average, whichever is lower;
or
Older children: The child is age 10 years or older, and it is the informed belief of the school principal and educational staff that an alternate course of educational study would be better suited to the child’s rapid acquisition of basic English language skills; or Children with special needs: The child already has been placed for a period of not less than thirty calendar days during that school year in an English language classroom and it is subsequently the informed belief of the school principal and the IEP team that the child has such special physical, psychological, emotional or educational needs that an alternate course of educational study would be better suited to the child’s overall educational
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