Reclassification Criteria

Commencing with the formal SB Unified School Board adoption of the META Comprehensive Plan for Multilingual Pathways, the Santa Barbara Unified School District will transition to the use of the term Emergent Multilingual Learners from the term English Learner to refer to students who speak a language other than English at home and who have the opportunity to become bilingual or multilingual in school.

However, throughout this section when pertaining to state and federal laws and policies, a general deficit-orientation and deficit-based terms such as 'English Learners' and 'Limited English Proficient' will continue to be used.

Santa Barbara Unified School District, in accordance with the California Department of Education’s state-level requirements, is focused on ensuring that English Learners:

  • acquire full proficiency in English as rapidly and effectively as possible and attain parity with native speakers of English,

  • achieve the same rigorous grade-level academic standards that are expected of all students within a reasonable period of time.

In order to accomplish these goals, all English Learners must be provided with designated and integrated English language development (ELD) instruction targeted to their English proficiency level and appropriate academic instruction in a language acquisition program until the student has been Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP).

1. What is Reclassification?

Reclassification is the process whereby a student is reclassified from an English learner to Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP). This happens when students learning English as an additional language demonstrate language proficiency in English.

2. What is required for students to demonstrate English Language Proficiency?

English Learners are required to meet all the following criteria in order to reclassify as fluent English proficient:

Criteria #1 English Language Proficiency (Overall Summative ELPAC level 4) *

Criteria #2 Demonstration of “Basic Skills” (Measured by grade-specific STAR Lexile requirements)

Criteria #3 Academic Evaluation (Measured by Teacher Report Card Grades overall in English Language Arts)

Criteria #4 Parent Opinion and Consultation

*Determined by the California State Board of Education. All other criteria are locally determined using CDE guidance.

The SB Unified 2021-2022 Reclassification Criteria is set by the District Reclassification Committee using California Department of Education’s Reclassification Guidance to school districts and in consultation with the District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC) pursuant to 5 CCR, 11308 (c)(6) (Advisory Committees).

3. How do I find out about my student’s reclassification eligibility?

Contact your elementary aged student’s teacher or your junior high / high school aged student’s counselor to review your student’s Reclassification Eligibility Status.

Should you have difficulty reaching your student’s teacher or counselor, please call the SB Unified Family Engagement Unit at (805) 696-2701 or email feu@sbunified.org.