Parents voiced their concern over the future of the Chinese immersion program in Prince George’s County schools during a town hall meeting in Laurel on May 20.
The town hall, held at the Laurel Branch Library, was hosted by Prince George’s County Council member Tom Dernoga (Dist. 1) and Prince George’s County Public Schools Board member Tiffini Andorful (Dist. 1). The presentation included the nomination process for a new superintendent and the county’s plans to rebuild High Point High School in Beltsville.
But it was the cuts to the school system’s immersion program that many of the roughly 15 parents in attendance rallied around. The Chinese immersion program, which costs about $1.9 million annually, would be eliminated under a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget as the school system tries to close a $150 million budget shortfall.
After pushback from parents, the Prince George’s County Board of Education rejected plans to phase out the program, which is currently offered at Paint Branch Elementary School, Greenbelt Middle School and Largo High School. However, the proposed fiscal 2027 budget for schools would remove $2.5 million in funding for language immersion programs.
Several parents at Wednesday’s meeting criticized the school system for poor communication over the fate of the program.
“I feel like I’m just living in rumortown,” said Danielle Rose, whose three children all participate in the immersion program in elementary, middle and high school. “I don’t know what’s going on. Not only that, I can’t get answers.”
Andorful said the county had not decided on funding for the immersion program and that a decision would not be made until the Board of Education’s working groups had finished their analysis. Andorful’s presentation said the groups were monitoring “academic program continuity” and “long-term resource alignment and sustainability.”
“There’s a lot of information provided to the members of those working groups. They’re digging into [the] budget … and really talking about other options, whether it be breaking up the programs or an alternative,” she said.
But questions persisted from the crowd, with some parents claiming the working groups didn’t include staff from the Chinese immersion program.
“This was all done with zero input from [immersion program academic dean], from the school principal, from the actual stakeholders,” said Alexandra Tyukavina, whose child attends Paint Branch Elementary School in College Park.
The budget for Prince George’s County public schools, along with the overall budget for county government, will be adopted by the County Council by June 1 and finalized by June 30.