ELAC

contact: Dr. Merle Bugarin | bugarin.merle@pusd.us

NAME	OFFICER POSTION
Dr. Merle Bugarin	Staff Representative
Adriana Ruiz	President
Vacante	Vice President
Abby Valdovinos	Secretary
Ana Esteban	Parliamentarian
Ana Esteban	DELAC Representative

 

Purpose of ELAC

The English Learner Advisory Committee addresses issues specifically related to English Learners and advises the principal, the school staff, and the School Site Council (SSC) on programs and services for English Learners to assure the needs of EL students are being met. Each school with 21 or more English Learners is required to have an ELAC. The percentage of EL parents on the committee must match the percentage of EL students at the school. Parents of non-EL students may also be on this committee.

The committee will review English Learner data and programs and make recommendations to the principal, school staff and the SSC.

Typically, ELAC meets once a month.

ELAC representatives become familiar with and comment on the four training topics:

1	Development of the School Plan regarding English Learner programs
2	The development of the school’s Needs Assessment (Analysis of EL Data)
3	The R-30 Language Census Report
4	Efforts to make parents aware of the importance of regular school attendance

 

Parents receive training and materials to assist them in meeting their legal responsibilities of understanding the participating in the development of the above four topics. 

Working closely with school staff, school organizations (e.g. PTA), and other parents, the ELAC representative has a rewarding and challenging opportunity: to participate actively for the benefit of all students and families at the school. As parents become informed and involved at the school, they are motivated to pursue further partnership with the district and/or community.

The law states guidelines for ELAC representatives:

1. All parents are notified that the ELAC election process will occur at a widely publicized upcoming ELAC meeting.
2. Parent members of ELAC are elected by parents of English Learners.
3. Parents of English Learners constitute at least the same percentage of the committee membership as their children represent of the student body.
4. ELAC elects at least one member (and not more than two) to the DELAC.
5. Parent members may elect ELAC Officers, but these are not mandatory by law.
6. ELAC representatives need to be trained to carry out their legal advisory responsibilities at both ELAC and DELAC meetings. Thus, they learn about the 4 ELAC training topics and the 7 DELAC training topics, and they learn about the district’s policies and procedures. Further, parents develop a list of guest speakers to share information about other topics of interest.
7. The DELAC representative(s) gives a report at each ELAC meeting and explains the training topics covered at the DELAC meeting.

Welcome to ELAC! Your participation is very important, and we appreciate your partnership!

(information from pusd.us)