Two Westerville parents used public comment on Aug. 25 to say they and other families who speak Somali are having trouble accessing special-education services and language assistance from the district.

Fardosa Ahmed said her son, who she described as a student with special needs, missed school in April and May because she felt she could not get help and that attempts to contact special-education staff produced no satisfactory response. “I try to contact you... but still I'm feeling that I'm not getting the help I need for my son,” Ahmed said. A district academic official, Mark Cooper, and other staff immediately offered to follow up directly; Cooper told Ahmed, “We definitely care. We wanna make sure that your child gets the assistance that they need.”

Community member Dahir Omar urged the district to hire more Somali-speaking teacher assistants and staff to assist families for whom English is not the first language, saying that children and parents often end up translating for one another and that the district needs more language support to serve those families equitably: “we really need to see more Somali, English speakers into the public, Westerville City Schools.”

Board members acknowledged the concerns, thanked the speakers for coming forward and said staff would follow up. The superintendent and staff pledged to connect the families with appropriate special-education and translation resources and to ensure building-level principals and administrators follow up promptly.

The public comments were part of the meeting’s allotted comment period; staff present accepted the requests for follow-up and said they would provide more direct assistance outside the public forum.