Orange County Schools will keep elementary Spanish program, add bilingual family liaison

Members of the Orange County School Board voted at their meeting Monday night to keep Spanish classes in the district's elementary schools, in addition to adding a part-time bilingual family liaison to each elementary school staff, following criticism of a recent proposal to remove elementary Spanish instruction.

Superintendent Monique Felder originally presented the recommendation that the district repurpose elementary school Spanish teachers to other teaching positions in anticipation of budget shortfalls, among other concerns, at a June 8 meeting.

Due to community feedback, including public comment at the June 8 meeting, the board postponed voting on the recommendation until June 22.

At the June 8 meeting,  Alice Dolbow, director of post-secondary opportunity for LatinxEd, a Latinx educational nonprofit, said the Board should consider the growth of the state and school district's Latinx population when making decisions concerning Spanish education curriculum. 

"We need to invest in curriculum and instruction in which Latinx students can see their heritage reflected," Dolbow said, "And our non-Latinx families need to learn the powerful stories and rich culture that Spanish-speaking families bring to our communities.”

According to estimates from the National Center for Education Statistics, 19.5 percent of children in the Orange County School District are Hispanic or Latinx. According to data from Carolina Demography, the Latinx population in the state has grown from 75,000 30 years ago to just under one million in 2018, an increase growth rate 6 percent higher than that of the general U.S. population. 

Felder presented an updated recommendation to the Board at the June 22 meeting that included  hiring a part-time, bilingual Family Outreach Liaison for each elementary school for the 2020-21 school year.

At the June 22 meeting, Felder said it has been “very eye-opening” for her to hear from several Latinx families who expressed their concern about the potential impacts of removing elementary Spanish classes.

“A teacher is not only a teacher, but a familiar face, and sometimes the Spanish teacher is the only person in our schools that our Latinx families can engage with,” Felder said.

The role of the bilingual Family Liaison would be “100 percent focused on serving families and advocating on their behalf,” Felder said at the June 22 meeting.

At the June 22 meeting, Board voted unanimously to keep the six elementary Spanish teachers in their current position and to hire a family liaison for each elementary school.

This decision came as a great relief to the community members who expressed their concerns about the original proposal to the board at the June 8 and June 22 meetings. 

Immersion for Spanish Language Acquisition, a nonprofit organization based in the Triangle that works to build community and leadership through educational Spanish language and cultural immersion programs, is one group that has vocally opposed the initial proposal stopping Spanish instruction. 

Beatriz Vazquez, a parent leader for ISLA, has advocated at recent board meetings on behalf of the organization.

“Our children would be losing a connection to their culture and roots,” Vazquez said in an ISLA press release. “And not only our children, but their classmates who are learning Spanish too.”

According to the June 23 release, parent leaders in the group were happy to see the proposal changed, saying the initial proposal could have risked worsening achievement gaps for Hispanic and Latinx students in OCS.

“The decision to keep Spanish at the elementary level is a big win for the Latino/Hispanic families in Orange County,” Lucinda Smith, director of development and marketing for ISLA, wrote. “It is an example of the importance of advocating for our children and being active in our local communities.”

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