English Learner Advisory Committee

What is the English Learner Advisory Council (ELAC)?

It is a meeting place that parents can use as a platform to express their concerns and ideas to both the school and the district, with the possibility of bringing about change.

How will it benefit the children?

They will feel the effects of their parents’ concerns, resulting in an impact on decisions at both the school level and the district level. They will see the change in their parents, as the parents are empowered by the training they will receive, and as they develop the ability to speak out for their families.

English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC)

(a) Each school with more than 20 pupils of limited English proficiency shall establish a school level advisory committee on which parents or guardians, or both, of such pupils, constitute membership in at least the same percentage as their children and wards represent of the total number of pupils in the school. The school may designate for this purpose an existing school-level advisory committee, or subcommittee of such an advisory committee, if the advisory committee, or subcommittee where appropriate, meets the criteria stated above.

(b) Each school advisory committee maintained pursuant to this section shall be responsible for advising the principal and staff in the development of a detailed master plan for bilingual education for the individual school and submitting the plan to the governing board for consideration for inclusion in the district master plan. It shall also be responsible for assisting in the development of the school needs assessment, language census, and ways to make parents aware of the importance of regular school attendance. The percentage of parents of English Language Learners serving on the committee must be equal to the percentage of English Language Learners in the school.