Tulsa Public Schools outlines bilingual, refugee supports and language-access tools

Mary Carmen Mitchell, manager of Bilingual Immigrant Services for Tulsa Public Schools, told the Asian Affairs Commission on Feb. 8 that the district provides language assistance, refugee navigators and targeted family-engagement services for newcomer students, and she asked the commission to help boost participation among Asian American and Pacific Islander families.

Mitchell said Tulsa Public Schools serves more than 33,000 students districtwide and that Asian American and Pacific Islander students number about 1,000 — roughly 3 percent of the system. She said the district’s top five non-English languages are Turkish, Hmong, Marshallese, Pashto and Dari (in addition to Spanish).

Officials said the district provides a range of supports: in-person and telephonic interpreters, translated document services, a…