NTPS gives dual language parents rushed ultimatum, leaves students with no ride home

Editor's note: The following is the statement delivered by Pleasant Glade Elementary School parent Jeremy Sorokas to the North Thurston Public Schools Board of Directors at a board meeting on May 19 regarding the district's sudden plan to move the Spanish-English dual language program out of Pleasant Glade Elementary.

Good evening, members of the Board. My name is Jeremy Sorokas, and I am a parent of a kindergartener at Pleasant Glade Elementary in Lacey. We chose our home specifically so our daughter could participate in the district's dual language immersion program. She loves it, she is thriving, and we are committed to keeping her in it.

This program serves families who deliberately chose this district. That kind of community investment is worth protecting.

Last week, we were given just two days to decide whether to stay in the dual language program by uprooting our children and moving them to Mountain View Elementary for the upcoming school year. That deadline was only extended after significant pushback, and it was only extended until Thursday, May 21. The fact that an extension was needed at all proves the original timeline was unworkable.

For many families, this still isn't a real choice. It is an administrative eviction from a program their children love, and it hits working families the hardest.

What's actually being offered is an hour-long morning commute for rising first graders: a bus to their old school, a wait, and then a shuttle to the new one. On top of that, there is absolutely no transportation home. To expect parents to leave work mid-afternoon for pickup, or to subject 6 year olds to a grueling, multistep commute every day, is completely unreasonable.

We are not here to fight the district; we are here because we believe in this program and want to work with you to get this right.

I am asking the Board to pause this timeline and provide a humane, equitable transition plan. Specifically, to either:

1. Grandfather the current cohorts so these children can remain at Pleasant Glade in the program they started; or, 

2. Provide direct, robust transportation both to and from Mountain View, so all students have equal access to the education they were promised.

Please do not let administrative convenience come at the expense of our children's well-being and this community's trust. Thank you.

- Jeremy Sorokas is a resident of Lacey.

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