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Clerical errors and reorganization prompt community demand for clarity on bilingual and newcomer services
Summary
Community members, bilingual educators and MPS staff raised concerns at the budget hearing after clerical errors in the published budget summary obscured where bilingual/multilingual staff and services are budgeted. Administration and the budget office said the positions are included in the full line-item budget and pledged clearer documentation.
Multiple community speakers and bilingual educators told the committee that a clerical error in the public draft of the FY26 budget created confusion about whether the district's bilingual and multilingual programs would remain intact.
"In the current version, we are not able to discern where the positions for the department of BMA are located," said Alondra Garcia, a second-grade bilingual teacher and vice president of the Wisconsin Association for Bilingual Education (WEAVE). Maricela Aguilar Monroy, an ESL teacher at the Newcomer Center at South Division, said the error "was so confusing, I was worried we were all gonna be moved out of our school placement." Monica…
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