Student’s Plight

“An Immigrant Family’s Vexing Lesson in Red Tape” (Feb. 13) focused on the school bureaucracy as the cause of the Gonzalez family’s problems. But there are other issues. Maria, the daughter, was not the victim of any crime. She says she was approached by a man. Instead of going on with her studies, she hid at home.

The family speaks no English, though they have been here since 1998. Why? Otilia Gonzalez, the mother of nine, allowed her daughter to languish for five months. If she had had the initiative to go to the school, she would certainly have found staff who could speak Spanish, even if her family couldn’t use the mail. Incidentally, where is the father?

WILLIAM GOLDSMITH

Studio City