Rising multilingual enrollment prompts request for district bilingual teacher, translators and resources

District multilingual-services staff told the board the district now serves approximately 374 multilingual learners and is seeking a permanent bilingual teacher position and additional supports to meet state requirements and classroom needs.

The presentation noted top languages in the cohort as Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Vietnamese and Ukrainian, and said the district has averaged about 100 immigrant students per year over the last two years, increasing newcomer demand for language services. Staff said newcomers require different supports than continuing English-learners and that the multilingual population growth has driven requests for materials, small technology devices to support family and classroom communication, and the hiring of a bilingual teacher to meet state staffing requirements where thresholds exist (the presentation cited bilingual-staffing requirements at Wallace and at the high school).

To fund a bilingual teacher, the administration proposed reducing about 2.5 bilingual-tutor positions; staff described this as a reallocation rather than a net head‑count increase. Presenters requested handheld translators (one per school), Mango language software as a secondary-language instructional tool for secondary students, Benchmark Express workbooks for elementary multilingual readers, and a small number of iPads to support instruction and family communication.

District staff said Mango appears to be more engaging and less "babyish" for secondary students than some other commercial tools; they emphasized that some materials and translators directly facilitate family outreach and compliance with state and federal communication requirements.

Ending: The board asked for precise counts and verification of enrollment numbers; staff agreed to provide updated rosters and more-detailed cost offsets at the next meeting.