The Capistrano Unified School Board approved a new program last week to allow foreign students to enroll in the district’s schools for up to a year.
The program—which is separate from the district’s existing student exchange program—is intended to “provide another form of access for international students ... as well as augment enrollment,” according to an Oct. 19 board report.
Assistant Superintendent Cary Johnson told The Epoch Times in an email that he suggested the program after the principal of Capistrano Valley High School expressed an interest in enhancing the school’s Mandarin immersion program by enrolling foreign students—including students from China—to have “long-term authentic interactions with native Mandarin speakers.”
In addition, Johnson said he hoped admitting foreign students can help boost the district’s enrollment and funding.
District officials have said that for almost a decade, the district has faced underfunding after the state established a funding formula based on average daily attendance and the number of high-need students, including foster youth and students from low-income families.
Because of these criteria, the district received less annual state funding than other districts in the county, even though it serves more students. Capistrano Unified received $12,700 per student in 2021, while the average amount received by school districts in the state was nearly $15,000 per student, district officials told The Epoch Times in a previous interview.
The district had nearly 50,000 students enrolled for the 2021–22 school year, according to the California Department of Education. In May, a budget presentation projected enrollment would drop by 812 students from the current school year, putting the district at around 42,000 for the 2022–2023 school year.
Johnson anticipates only five to 10 foreign students for the first few years “until we get an efficient system in place,” and then the total per year would have to be assessed annually to determine space availability and ensure placements for all district students.
Since enrollment preference would be given to district resident students, they will not be impacted by the program, Johnson said.
According to Johnson, international students in the new program would come through an F-1 visa—which allows students to pursue “academic enrichment” over two years, one year at a public school and one year at a private school, and requires them to pay tuition—whereas students holding a J-1 visa in the existing international exchange program are engaging in cultural exchange for up to one year and are typically funded by outside scholarships or grants.
With the new program, individual students from other countries who are interested can apply for an F-1 visa through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Participating foreign students would be responsible for arranging their own housing.
Johnson said he hopes to launch the program by the 2023–24 school year.
