Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Newcomer student leaders present recommendations to Mount Diablo Unified board; staff cite CalNEW grant supports
Summary
Student leaders and multilingual‑education staff presented findings from a district survey of ~328 newcomer students funded by the CalNEW grant, recommending bilingual peer ambassadors, a newcomer support toolkit, and visual maps of staff language skills to improve orientation, belonging and access to services.
Catherine Fireman, director of the district’s multilingual education department, introduced a student‑led presentation to the Mount Diablo Unified School District board on May 13 that summarized newcomer students’ experiences and offered concrete recommendations for strengthening supports.
Fireman said the district currently serves about 1,300 newcomer students and is completing its fourth year of work under the CalNEW grant (administered by the California Department of Social Services). The district used the grant to staff newcomer support positions, including two newcomer social‑work specialists and a part‑time newcomer coordinator.
Vanessa Castillo, a newcomer social‑work…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
