School District Plans to Alter Bilingual Method

The Westminster School District is preparing to revamp the way it teaches students with limited English skills, but it must request exemption from state requirements to do so.

Of the district’s 9,000 students, about 4,000 have limited English proficiency, officials said. Therefore, the district is required by the state to employ 90 teachers who have a bilingual certificate or are in training to obtain one. The state also requires that students be taught some classes in their native language, officials said.

The district is having trouble meeting the requirement for bilingual teachers, officials said, and has developed a plan to use English-speaking teachers paired with bilingual assistants.

Board members “don’t want so many teachers to be tied up in training for Spanish and Vietnamese,” district spokeswoman Audrey Brown said Friday. “But the main idea is to have more local control over programs. The board wants to decide here what is best.”

Assistant Supt. Barbara Fileto said the district’s proposal, if approved by the state Board of Education, would not detract from teaching English to students with limited skills.

“I’m very confident that this is a great program,” Fileto said. “It’s important to note, though, that our goals have not changed. We want to . . . help all students learn English quickly.”

The trustees will seek public comment at a hearing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.



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