Christina Boston, director of Multilingual and Multicultural Education for Tolleson Union High School District, briefed the governing board on the district’s English learner (EL) and refugee‑student supports, including partnership work, staffing supports, technology tools and achievement metrics.

Boston told trustees the district serves more than 14,000 students and that about 10 percent are English learners; she reported a set of program counts during the presentation, including students in the EL program, newcomers and a small number identified as refugee‑status newcomers. She said Spanish is the predominant home language but that the district documents roughly 50 languages across its schools and that Copper Canyon and Sierra Linda have the highest concentrations of EL students.

Boston and English acquisition coordinator Britney Moreno described the district’s layered supports: McKinney‑Vento enrollment procedures and wraparound services for students experiencing housing instability; partnerships with the International Rescue Committee for refugee transition support; instructional assistants and after‑school EL tutoring; bilingual materials and translation services for families; and digital tools such as live captions, immersive reader and speech‑to‑text to help students follow lessons in real time. Boston said the district uses an internal AzELa assessment implementation and student support analysts to monitor English‑language progress and to trigger targeted interventions.

Boston cited outcomes the district monitors: according to her presentation, the district’s 2022–23 overall graduation rate was 86.8 percent while the EL subgroup’s rate was approximately 84.77 percent; she also reported an EL dropout rate below 2 percent and noted the district continues targeted counselor and boot‑camp interventions ahead of state spring assessments.

Board members praised the partnerships and asked operational questions about enrollment processes, translation of enrollment materials and instructional assistant staffing. Boston said that online enrollment triggers a home‑language survey that alerts student‑support analysts and counselors; she confirmed most district forms are maintained in English because of state law requirements but said the district and partners (including IRC) provide translated materials and interpreter support when families need it. Boston also said the district uses Title‑funded professional development for EL teachers and sends staff to relevant conferences and trainings.

Boston described an upcoming West Valley consortium meeting to coordinate services across neighboring districts and asked trustees to continue support for staffing and technology that aid multilingual students. Board members asked for additional detail on how the district tracks newcomers’ transitions between feeder schools and secondary campuses and for future updates on graduation metrics for EL subgroups.