A parent from PS 107 told the President's Council that families who speak Spanish and Chinese often do not volunteer for executive board roles because they lack confidence in English and asked about live translation options.

That exchange matters because District 25 schools serving multilingual families must provide language access to make meetings and leadership roles inclusive and to ensure equitable participation.

Mike Caraher (PS 107) described the difficulty of recruiting fluent speakers for PTA leadership and asked whether simultaneous translation or other supports are available. Council staff pointed attendees to the Office of Language Access, which can provide simultaneous interpretation for live meetings (the service generally requires hiring an interpreter and may carry a cost). Staff also noted that every school typically has a language‑access coordinator (often the parent coordinator) who can help arrange translation services.

Rachel Boltedano and others said written meeting notices can be produced in multiple languages using templates on schools.nyc.gov. Myrna Pacheco and other members said some schools have family‑engagement funds and that those funds have been used to pay for interpreters and outreach; they encouraged parents to coordinate with their principal or parent coordinator to access those resources.

Council staff suggested the district’s Office of Language Access as the first point of contact for live interpretation and said translation support for written materials is available. No formal policy changes were made during the meeting; council members encouraged schools to use existing funds and to work with parent coordinators to schedule interpreters in advance of regular meetings.

Attendees were advised to follow up with their school parent coordinators for assistance in September.