VALLEJO – Since its founding about a year ago, the Latino Parent Network has supported Latino students and families in the Vallejo City Unified School District (VCUSD) by advocating for them, sharing information, and helping them access and navigate services.
The network has 12 volunteer members, including chairperson and former Vallejo Vice Mayor Mina Loera-Diaz, who is also a VCUSD grandparent. The members focus especially on the challenges that Latino immigrants face, such as helping with language barriers by providing information in Spanish and apprising them of their legal rights.
“The reason we are so passionate about this is that we are them,” Loera-Diaz said. “Most of us are immigrants or are in families of immigrants who came to the US.”
Loera-Diaz said that the network reaches parents through showing up at community events such as back-to-school nights and the city of Vallejo’s recent Día Del Niño celebration at a city park, and through their Facebook and Instagram pages.
Vice Chairperson Jessica Gonzalez, who is also a VCUSD alumni and parent, told the Vallejo Sun that the network informs parents about how the education system works in the United States and in Vallejo specifically, which is often new for immigrant families.
“We come to the States and the educational system is completely different, from the grading scale, to how many years of high school there are, to the prep that it takes to go to a college or a technical program,” Gonzalez said. “It was important to us to help empower and educate our community.”
In Vallejo, the biggest issue that the network deals with is language barriers, according to Gonzalez.
“We have academic gaps that cause our students to not be as engaged or able to receive the opportunities that are available because of barriers of language,” Gonzalez said.
State data show that last year Latinos made up about 52% of the district's enrollment. Data also show that the 27% of students who are classified as English learners in the district’s 20 schools scored lower on state indicators and test scores, especially in English and language arts, than students who were proficient in English.
Loera-Diaz said that the network also educates families about the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California, or ELPAC testing. If students perform well on ELPAC tests, they can stop taking special classes for English learners, which allows them to take other classes that prepare them to pursue higher education.
But according to Loera-Diaz, since ELPAC testing doesn’t occur in the countries that Latino families come from, they don’t always understand how important the tests are or ensure that their children attend school on test days. That’s why the network wants to ensure that parents know the importance of ELPAC tests.
Christina Rodriguez, an education liaison with the network and a mother of a district student, focuses on helping Latino students access college. Rodriguez works at Solano County Community College, and she said that in the past there was a gap in the collaboration and partnership between the college and Latino Vallejo families, but she has been able to help the college increase its outreach to Latino students at Jesse Bethel and Vallejo High Schools.
According to Rodriguez, the network eases Latino students’ access to college by helping them navigate financial aid and select the proper high school courses so they will qualify and be prepared for higher education.
Rodriguez works specifically in the Basic Needs Resources Department in Solano Community College, which connects students with services that provide essential needs like food pantries, clothes closets, and housing referral services. With her knowledge and connections she helps inform families of students considering college of the support options that are available.
“We’re able to share those resources to show that once they graduate there are more resources and help,” Rodriguez said.
Gonzalez said the network was founded to create “a strong partnership” with the district. There are district programs such as tutoring, arts, sports, and after school activities that Latino families might not be aware of. The network can “help create a pathway” for them to access by informing them about them in Spanish.
Gonzalez said the network also focuses on informing parents of children with special needs about the educational rights they have and the services that the district can and must provide.
“We want to highlight all the good programs that are available in the district and to show Latino families that those programs are for them,” said Gonzalez. “Sometimes in our community we shy away from partaking in the things that are happening because we don’t feel like they’re for us. A big message we want to send is that they’re invited to the table.”
Each district school also has mental health support for students, and the network has advocated for Spanish speaking mental health workers at schools. According to district spokesperson Maral Papakhian, the district can make referrals for students at all schools to receive mental health services in Spanish, and seven Vallejo district schools including Vallejo and Jesse Bethel High currently have Spanish speaking mental health providers onsite.
The network also helps families with important issues that don’t directly relate to schools. In February they collaborated with Catholic Charities Yolo-Solano to host a virtual “Know your rights” presentation in Spanish to inform Latino parents of immigration law in the U.S., and their rights should ICE officers approach them.
In March, they hosted a similar workshop in-person at Vallejo High School. During that workshop, which about 40 people attended, immigration attorney Nicole Gorney gave legal advice. Mayor Andrea Sorce collaborated with the network to organize the event and was present, as were members of several local agencies such as the Vallejo Police Department and Solano County Sheriff's Office and Solano County Rapid Response Team. Food is Free Solano distributed food.
Loera-Diaz said that some undocumented people are hesitant to go to such workshops out of fear, but the network is determined to share this information and has gone directly to people’s homes in order to do so.
“We tell people if you can get a small group of people in a backyard,” Loera-Diaz said, “we’ll go there."
Rodriguez, who worked for 15 years managing and marketing apartment homes in the Bay Area and has also served for one year as chair of the Vallejo Housing and Community Development Commission, said that the network is planning to host a housing education workshop to inform people of their rights as tenants and homebuyers and to dispel incorrect assumptions they might have about seeking housing while undocumented.
“There’s this myth that if you don’t have a social security number you can’t get an apartment,” said Rodriguez. “But that’s not true. And I know that because I worked in housing for years and rented apartments to people who didn’t have them.”
Gonzalez said that the network is always looking to connect with Latinos to share information and learn what they need. The group has been distributing a survey in order to learn more about what Latinos need and how better to serve them, and has gotten back 200 responses so far.
“What’s most important is that Latino students and families know that we exist and that we exist for them,” Gonzalez said. “We would love to expand.”
The best way to reach the Latino Parent Network is by calling them at 707-704-8358, or through email, at lpnvallejo@gmail.com.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct that Mina Loera-Diaz is a VCUSD grandparent.
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Zack Haber
Zack Haber is an Oakland journalist and poet who covers labor, housing, schools, arts and more. They have written for the Oakland Post, Oaklandside and the Appeal.
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