After months of pressure from Latino parents, the Evanston District 202 Board of Education voted Monday to commission an outside review of its high school bilingual program.
The board voted to spend $20,000 on the study at a meeting after discussing concerns raised by the Latino Parents Union, which represents more than 60 Evanston Township High School families. The superintendent’s office proposed the study when it spoke to the parents union after the April 23 board meeting.
The board also approved an expansion of Spanish-language science classes for $15,000.
Superintendent Allan Alson said an independent study will allow the district to improve its bilingual program by revealing students’ needs.
“What tools can we give (students); what programs can we put in place to help students speak English?” he asked.
Board members voted unanimously for the study. But Elizabeth Tisdahl voiced concerns that the study would be biased in favor of bilingual education, the effectiveness of which has been debated across the country.
Tisdahl said many immigrants in the community members have contacted her and told her that they succeeded without the help of bilingual programs.
“It’s basically sink or swim, and they swam,” she said.
The study likely will begin at the beginning of the academic year in September, and Alson said universities and consultants would be invited to apply for the contract.
The board also voted to upgrade the biology and chemistry programs for Latino students. Two lab periods with bilingual teachers will be added to one section of each program.
The board received 34 recommendations to improve Latino and bilingual schooling from a committee at its April 23 meeting. Among the proposals were bilingual report cards, improved communication between the high school and Spanish-speaking parents and better teacher training.
The administration implemented one recommendation by having an interpreter present at Monday’s meeting. But parents union spokeswoman Soledad Renteria said the district’s promise of an interpreter fell short because the interpreter provided was hard of hearing and only summarized the words of Spanish speakers.
Seventy-four of the 94 students in ETHS’s bilingual program are Spanish speakers, and Latino students make up 7.4 percent of the school’s 3,120 students.
The board heard from several other Latino parents during the public comments portion of the meeting.
Parents union member Laura Paz said the group appreciates the steps the board has taken so far, but stressed the need for further changes. She said the district should train teachers to instruct Latino students more effectively.
Paz and several other speakers said a “Latino advocate” should be hired to communicate with families and help them with school-related problems.
“We cannot stress enough the importance of this step,” Paz told the board. “(The LPU) has done a lot of research and study for you.”
Though it has not endorsed a Latino advocate, the district has applied for a $52,000 state grant to fund a study center for Latino students run by a full-time bilingual coordinator, Alson said. The district will receive a decision before July 1.
But she said the LPU will continue to attend meetings and pressure the district until the board listens to all of its concerns.
During the meeting, the board also approved contracts for renovations to two areas of ETHS. The district will spend $261,000 for improvements to the information services and registrar’s office, and it will spend $257,000 for renovations and modernization of the main office.
The board’s next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. May 29 at ETHS, where it will discuss the additional recommendations on the bilingual program.
