German language immersion is what set this school apart. Now the school might drop it entirely.

San Diego Unified trustees are expected to vote on changes to a charter school that specializes in German language immersion — but not all families are happy with the road their school is going down, or the timing of its decision.

Albert Einstein Academies, a K-8 school that plans to expand to high school, describes itself in its charter as the first International Baccalaureate school in San Diego with a German-language immersion program, where instruction is split 50-50 between English and German.

“The school was founded by a group of forward-thinking native German-speaking parents who spent hundreds of hours over a four-year period researching and evaluating educational models that would embrace their dream of a school for second language learning with an international focus,” the charter read.

But the charter school is asking the district to do away with the German immersion program.

It lists a number of reasons, including changes in its student population, including higher emotional needs and a growing number of English learners.

In addition, stricter state credentialing requirements and a teacher shortage in Germany have created a German language teacher shortage, the school says. Switching to a German-language instruction mode, without a 50/50 instruction split, will require fewer.

Already, the school says, neither the charter nor the school’s academic plan reflects its current German curriculum.

“The 50/50 immersion p...