Carrie and Philippe Leroy wanted their 7-year-old son, Eric, to start this school year in a French-language immersion class, where he would learn about geography and gravity primarily in French and a little in English. Chee Yin and Leo Blume sought a similar educational experience for 5-year-old Ansel, only they preferred to develop his bilingual abilities in Mandarin.

Neither program exists yet in the Palo Alto Unified School District, which started a Spanish-language immersion program six years ago. But these parents have joined dozens of others in lobbying the district to broaden its immersion offerings, better reflect its multicultural city and boost students' ability to thrive in a global society.

Blume views public school immersion programs as a comprehensive -- and inexpensive -- learning environment for his son.

``It's setting him up to appreciate his own heritage ethnically and have career opportunities that will give him an edge in whatever the job market is 20 years from now,'' said Blume, of Palo Alto.

Several private schools on the Peninsula offer the immersion programs he and other parents pine for, but public education is made possible ``through our taxes, so that would work out more nicely,'' Blume said.

Palo Alto public schools may soon see an interest in Italian and Hebrew immersion programs, too, although such organized efforts have yet to approach the strength of those advocating for French and Mandarin. These proposals illustrate the difficulty school districts and other institutions face in accommodating the interests of their increasingly diverse communities, especially during belt-tightening times.

While Palo Alto Unified hasn't been forced to slash jobs and programs as several nearby school districts have, its budget for the 2002-03 school year grew only 1.5 percent to $104.4 million. When the school board adopted its annual budget in June, Deputy Superintendent Bob Golton advised, ``There can be no thought of program expansion without corresponding cuts.''

While the school district waits for the arrival of a more prosperous financial outlook, its staff is drawing up criteria on how to select the next language -- if any -- for an immersion program.

Cynthia Pino, Palo Alto Unified's associate superintendent of educational services, said the guidelines will weigh the availability of instructional materials and certified teachers, the financial impact on other programs and the locations for the new classes. She plans to present the criteria to the school board in the fall.

How to best teach children other languages -- whether casually in the home, occasionally in weekend or after-school classes or intensely in school immersion programs -- is a puzzle many parents are trying to piece together, according to Parents Place, a resource center in Palo Alto.

Last spring, the center introduced a workshop called ``Raising Children Bilingually.'' It became so popular that the center quickly added a second session and found enough parents to fill two more classes, which will be offered this fall.

Parents Place also renamed it ``Raising Children Multilingually.''

``We had people write down the different languages spoken in their homes,'' which ranged from Tagalog to Farsi, said workshop instructor Sylvia Ford. ``We found out it wasn't bilingual, but trilingual.''

The latest census data shows 28.6 percent of Palo Alto residents over age 5 speak a language other than English at home, compared with 17.5 percent in 1990. More detailed data on proficiency will be released later this month.

The LeRoys want school teachers and classmates to reinforce the French they speak at home to Eric, so he'll still be counted in that statistic the next time the census is taken.

But this fall, Eric will be attending Ohlone Elementary School, where he will learn everything in English, instead of the International School of the Peninsula, where 80 percent of the lessons were given in French during his three years in the immersion program.

``It was a very difficult decision for us,'' Carrie Leroy said of switching schools. ``We were mainly concerned about our child not being part of his immediate community. We live in Palo Alto. Palo Alto schools are among the best in the state. We felt with him being in a private school, he would always sort of be an outsider.''

Private school tuition also has become prohibitive.

Blume looked into Mandarin-immersion programs at private schools, but $12,000 a year didn't sit well with him.

``With the uncertainty in the job market these days, it's a tough commitment to make,'' said Blume, who was laid off last year from the high-tech company he co-founded.

``It was going to be a sacrifice even without the threat of layoffs,'' said Blume, now a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard. ``I was thinking maybe I'd just send him to private school for a year or two because that's as much as I can take out of savings.''

Grace Mah and more than 70 Palo Alto families are trying to help that happen. Mah, representing Palo Alto Chinese Education, is scheduled to give an informational presentation on the group's proposal for Mandarin immersion at Tuesday's school board meeting.

She hopes to bring about change before her 4-year-old son, Tony, finishes his last year in a Mandarin-immersion preschool in Los Altos.

``I really want to send Tony to a Palo Alto public school in 2003,'' Mah said. ``I used to think it's a gift to teach him another language, but now it's just about necessity.''