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Somerville multilingual services team outlines expanded in‑house capacity, DESE training grant and equipment needs
Summary
The Somerville Public Schools multilingual services office reported growth in in‑house interpreters and translators, described a newly awarded DESE grant for training, and flagged aging simultaneous‑interpretation equipment.
The Somerville Public Schools multilingual services team told the School Committee on Jan. 13 that it has substantially increased in‑house interpretation capacity, reduced outside contracting costs and won a Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) grant to fund training for interpreters.
Ruth Santos introduced the team and said the office has matured from ad hoc services into a consolidated unit that now includes full‑time staff and a growing pool of vetted interpreters.
“Since Sept. we facilitated over 131 interpreted sessions,” Vanusa de Sheira, Portuguese interpreter and translator, told the committee. Vanusa said the most common request languages are Portuguese, Spanish and Haitian Creole and that…
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