Board approves ESOL program plan as administrators highlight growth and grant-funded supports
Summary
Trustees approved the Oshkosh Area School District—s 2025–26 ESOL program plan after presenters described stable ESOL staffing, roughly 800 students across 67 languages, WIDA ACCESS growth for many learners, and multiple grant partnerships that fund outreach and mentoring programs.
The Board of Education voted to approve the Oshkosh Area School District—s 2025–26 English for Speakers of Other Languages program plan after administrators presented data showing steady enrollment and measurable student growth.
Dr. Coleman introduced the workshop and framed the students as "Oshkosh Area School District students" before turning the presentation to ESOL staff. Stephanie McKenzie, ESOL coordinator, said the program has "roughly 800 students in our ESOL program" with about half of those students of refugee background and 67 languages spoken in the district. She said refugee resettlement has been suspended recently, so new arrivals have slowed, but secondary migration within the Fox Valley has kept ESOL counts relatively stable.
McKenzie highlighted assessment results: two-thirds of ESOL students made typical or high growth on the WIDA ACCESS language assessment, and for the first time since 2020 some English learners met the ACT ELA benchmark (a small share, she said). Ayak Deng, multicultural outreach coordinator, described after-school tutoring, refugee youth mentoring, a SPARK summer program and swim and soccer partnerships funded through grants. Laura Shung summarized funding sources, noting three Department of Children and Families grants and United Way support for broader refugee-youth programming.
Board members asked whether the district provides any ESOL services to private schools. McKenzie said she serves as the district consult for private schools, conducting proficiency screening and providing consultation but not full-time services on-site. Trustees also discussed transfer-of-service funding and how DPI processes requests when districts take on additional English-learner needs; district staff explained transfer-of-service adds to the revenue-limit calculation and can create temporary increased local costs until aid catches up.
Motion to approve the ESOL program plan was moved by Molly and seconded by Kelly. The roll call vote approved the plan; the board thanked staff for the work and for grant partnerships that sustain much of the outreach.
Next steps: approved program plan is in effect for 2025—26; staff will continue to monitor enrollment and grant funding and report results in future workshops.
