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Teachers, parents and union ask Baltimore City Schools to expand multilingual family office
Summary
At the Feb. 11 Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners meeting, the Baltimore Teachers Union and multiple public commenters urged City Schools to expand the Multilingual Family Engagement Office from two staff to six, and to strengthen translation, newcomer programming and transportation support for international staff and families.
The Baltimore Teachers Union and multiple public commentators asked the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners on Feb. 11 to expand the district’s Multilingual Family Engagement Office and strengthen supports for multilingual students, newcomer families and international staff.
“We urge the district to increase staffing in the Multilingual Family Engagement Office from 2 to 6 positions so that we can truly meet the needs of our students and their families,” said Christina Duncan Evans, teacher chapter chair for the Baltimore Teachers Union, during the board’s public-comment period. Evans said the office currently provides language access tools and newcomer programming but is “simply not enough” for a growing immigrant student population.
Several other speakers — including representatives from school-based and community groups and a classroom teacher — described similar needs. Shelly Ann Higgins, a teacher at Excel Academy at Francis Scott Key High School, said the international staff and families need more translation, multilingual special-education supports, better communication about rights and status for international staff, and help navigating off-site professional development. Higgins told the board the district’s multilingual office has only two staff serving nearly 200 schools and called for expanding the team by “at least 4 staff members.”
Why it matters: Board members and administrators acknowledged the repeated public testimony and the district’s role in coordinating language access and family engagement. District leaders did not announce a schedule for new positions during the meeting. Instead, the CEO and staff heard the comments and said they would consider the input as they plan services and staffing.
What speakers asked for: BTU and public commenters identified several concrete priorities in their testimony: - Increase Multilingual Family Engagement Office staffing from 2 to 6 employees to provide proactive outreach and translation support. - Expand translation of district portals and materials and fund language-access tools such as Language Line. - Add multilingual supports specifically for multilingual learners who also have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or other special-education needs. - Provide clearer, ongoing communications to international staff about immigration guidance and rights; maintain consistent messaging about district protections. - Offer transportation help for international staff who must travel to off-site professional development.
District response and next steps: Board chair and district staff acknowledged the public comments near the end of the public-comment period and said the board appreciated the testimony for planning purposes. No formal motion or vote on new funding or positions was taken at the meeting. Several board members asked for staff follow-up; the board’s CEO said staff would continue to review public comment input and planned programming.
Speakers (public comment period): - Christina Duncan Evans, Teacher Chapter Chair, Baltimore Teachers Union (represents more than 8,000 BTU members) - Shelly Ann Higgins, Teacher, Excel Academy at Francis Scott Key High School (School 178) - Multiple named video presenters listed by staff as supporting multilingual families (names recorded in meeting logs and public-comment roster)
Clarifying details from testimony: - Current MFEO staffing stated in testimony: 2 positions covering nearly 200 schools (speakers’ assertion recorded during public comment). - Specific staffing ask: expand - from 2 to 6 positions (BTU request).
Community relevance: The testimony linked the request to a growing immigrant population in Baltimore, multilingual learners’ access to services (including IEP supports), and staff retention for international teachers. Testifiers urged the district to protect immigrant families amid national immigration enforcement concerns.
Provenance: Topic introduced in the public-comment period beginning with Christina Duncan Evans at 1103.7949 and concluded with the final public comment from Shelly Ann Higgins at 2653.645.
Ending: Board members thanked the multilingual community for the testimony and invited additional written input; staff did not present a formal staffing plan during the meeting. The requests will inform future staff work and budget planning but no implementation timeline was announced.
