PLEASANTON — Lucy Ye said she was puzzled when she registered her kindergarten-aged son for school and learned that she had to indicate what ethnicity of Asian descent he is.

A choice of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Samoan and nine more options appear on California school district registration forms, with no option to opt-out or choose a general “Asian” selection.

Parent Sylvia Tian said her sons are American; they were born in the United States. So why does it matter on a registration form what subgroup of Asian they are?

The two moms are among a small coalition of Asian parents in Pleasanton who want the subgroup designations to be dropped from the registration forms. For months they have been showing up to school board meetings with signs that read “No Asian sub-grouping to our children!” or “United! Not Divided!”

Last week, they aired their concerns to Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon.

Baker said it was news to her that these subgroups were required at the school district level. She said the parents raised a fair point: Why are we stratifying just one group, and why are we stratifying at all?

Officials of the school district and the State Department of Education say it’s the law, a result of 2011’s Assembly Bill 1088, which created a government code (8310.5) that requires school districts to include these Asian subgroups. No other race category requires the subgroups.

The state education department, and school districts, say they use the data to measure how subgroups are performing in school to identify those who may need more help. For example, data may show that students of a certain subgroup may perform better on tests than others.

The bill states that a general “Asian” or “Pacific Islander” category is too broad because the groups have vast social, educational, health and economic differences.

“Given the diversity of languages and cultures, separating data for additional Asian and additional Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups and making the data publicly accessible are critical for enhancing our state’s understanding of the needs and experiences of these different communities,” the bill states.

Ye said she feels uncomfortable that only Asian children are in subgroups, and confused about how the data are used. Tian said she understands why the information would be used for say, health services, but thinks using it in education could lead to unfairness and inequality.

Tian said she believes the race data could make its way into transcripts for college applications and impact her children’s acceptance into universities.

She said college admission should be based on years of hard work and study, and it would be unfair to consider one’s ethnicity.

“Education is not a welfare that should be given out for free,” she said.

The University of California undergraduate applications have 69 subcategories, including 23 Asian/Pacific Islander options.

Baker said the issue is “worthy of state attention,” and that she would research the possibility of introducing new legislation.

“The state should not be stratifying people into categories, and should look very cautiously at doing that unless there is a clear public health reason,” Baker said.

Baker addressed the Assembly last year on AB 1726, which passed and now requires the Department of Public Health to use specific categories for Asian/Pacific Islander subgroups. The data will be used to reveal information on rates for major diseases and leading causes of death for each demographic.