Oakland Unified Cuts Newcomer Schools to Six as Enrollment Falls
The district reduced its new immigrant student programs by more than half, a sharp drop that is straining funding and staffing across California schools.
By Mateo Thompson ·
Oakland Unified School District has reduced the number of middle and high schools offering newcomer services from 17 to six this school year. The district made the cut because the number of new immigrant students enrolling for the first time has dropped sharply. This reduction leaves most remaining programs serving students in their second or third year of schooling.
The decline is steep. In the 2017-18 school year through 2024-25, more than 1,300 new immigrant students arrived in Oakland Unified each year, except for the 2020-21 pandemic year. In 2025-26, that number fell to 498. As of Oct. 7, only 212 new immigrant students had enrolled for the first time this year. Most of these students are in elementary grades.
Nicole Knight, the executive director of English language learner and multilingual achievement at Oakland Unified, confirmed the shift. She said the district knew enrollment would be low but noted the current figures are extremely low. Because there are fewer new arrivals, students are now entering mainstream classes sooner rather than staying in separate newcomer classes for the first one or two years.
Teachers face new challenges with this change. Knight said many educators do not feel equipped to support students who are just beginning to learn English or who have missed months or years of schooling in their home countries. Some teachers may lack specific training to help these students catch up academically.
The drop in enrollment also affects district funding. California provides school funding based on student headcounts, so fewer students mean less money for the district. Knight noted that new immigrant arrivals helped keep bilingual immersion classes fully enrolled in the past. She described the situation as a result of declining overall enrollment, making it clear how much the district relied on newcomers to stay afloat.
Los Angeles Unified is experiencing a similar trend. The district reported that newcomer enrollment fell from 20,755 students in 2024-25 to 11,103 students in 2026-27. This represents a 46.5% drop. Over the same period, the district's overall enrollment declined by 8.3%.
San Juan Unified near Sacramento saw a smaller decrease. Newcomer enrollment fell by about 13.6%, dropping from 974 students in 2025-26 to 842 this year. Raj Rai, a district spokesperson, said the drop is less severe because many families arrived as refugees or through the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghan nationals. These families did not cross the border recently. Rai added that the district continues to see newcomer families relocate from other states to join relatives.
San Juan Unified has not cut programs. The district continues to offer academic, language, and social-emotional support. It also recently launched an English Club that meets on Saturdays to help newcomers improve their language skills.
Statewide, the number of newcomer students fell from a record high of 236,958 in 2024-25 to 228,780 in 2025-26. The final count for 2026-27 is not yet available. Most of the current students entered before recent federal immigration policy changes and are now in their second or third year.
Sam Finn, executive director of the California Newcomer Network, said the state is approaching a cliff. He explained that the population will decline much more as current students finish their first three years and are no longer classified as newcomers. Program leaders are working to maintain their curriculum and expertise in case new immigrant numbers rise again in the future.
