A group of parents presented two alternatives Monday night to the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 superintendent’s plan for the future of the district’s bilingual program.
The concerned residents submitted their ideas for the Two-Way Immersion Program at a special Board of Education meeting held to facilitate more community dialogue between board members and parents after the five-hour Feb. 17 meeting left the issue unresolved.
More than 200 parents attended this week’s packed meeting, held at the Joseph E. Hill Education Center, and those who could not find a seat or a place to stand against the wall watched a live television broadcast of the event in the lounge.
Although the board will not vote on the issue until its March 8 meeting, a group of three parents of Washington Elementary School students introduced the two new proposals, titled the “No Strand Left Behind,” also known as the “2-2-2 Model,” and the “Neighborhood School TWI Initiative.”
Implemented by the district in 2000, the TWI program is intended to help English-speaking students become bilingual in Spanish and Spanish-speaking students become proficient in English. The program exists currently in three strands — or three sections per grade — at Washington and one strand at Dawes Elementary School.
A single strand is equivalent to one TWI class per grade, with all other students at that level being taught in the traditional manner.
“English is the primary language in the classroom, so the students must be proficient in the language to be successful,” Superintendent Hardy Ray Murphy said.
Under the No Strand Left Behind plan, proposed by Michelle Brewer, Aleca Sullivan and Christyne Dzwierzynski, two strands of TWI will be implemented at each grade level, with class sizes at Washington lowered for both general-education and TWI students.
Also, TWI programs would take place at three schools — Washington, Oakton Elementary School and Timber Ridge School — instead of the four schools proposed by the District 65 administration.
The second alternative proposal, Neighborhood School TWI Initiative, would leave Washington with only a single-strand for kindergarten through third grade. Under the plan TWI would be implemented at Washington, Oakton and Dawes.
In addition no general-education students from any school and no Washington TWI students would have to transfer to another location.
“The neighborhood initiative accommodates all of the people in the (TWI) program,” said Brewer. “It doesn’t disrupt any general education programs. It allows for future growth.”
The model does pose some disadvantages, however. Dzwierzynski said the Neighborhood School TWI Initiative would split siblings up between different schools and cause the special education program to move out of Dawes.
Despite the new alternatives, Murphy said he stood by his administration’s model.
“We still feel our proposal is the best proposal,” he said.
Murphy’s plan, which he presented at the board meeting last week, includes five strands spread across four schools: two at Washington and a single strand each at Dawes, Oakton and Dewey Elementary School. His plan did gain some support at the meeting.
“Dr. Murphy’s recommendation to the board is what the board should accept,” said Evanston resident Delores Holmes, a retired director of Family Focus. “He is the one with the expertise. It’s always wise to go with the person you selected.”
The administration is expected to post a second TWI proposal on the District 65 Web site later this week.
The March 8 board meeting at which administrators plan to vote on the TWI program will be held at the Joseph E. Hill Education Center, 1500 McDaniel Ave. The meeting will be open to the public.
