And while parents may feel attached to particular people who are losing jobs, Dunkley says, the seniority rules of union contracts dictate who gets laid off first.
Whether the district's plan really fills in the gaps created by these layoffs remains to be seen. Advocates say they have been neither consulted nor informed of the district's new plans for non-English-speaking children.
"The question," says Len Rieser, executive director of the Education Law Center, the organization behind the 1985 lawsuit resulting in the BCA positions, "is now that this year's set of staffing arrangements is getting drastically changed, will they be able to provide the services that families need and that are required?"
"I don't think they even know the answer to that right now."
