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District explains bilingual/ESL waiver process; training and test support provided
Summary
Shannon Owens explained that waivers allow teachers who lack ESL certification (for example, those in alternative certification) to teach for up to one year while the district provides professional development and pays for training; she said the ESL test is currently free to add to certification.
At an information-item discussion, a board member asked for clarification on the bilingual/ESL program evaluation and specifically what the referenced waiver permits. Shannon Owens explained the waiver: when a teacher has not yet obtained ESL certification—commonly because they are still in an alternative certification route—the district files a waiver that allows that teacher to be assigned while they pursue certification. "The waiver is, we're required to have ESL certified teachers in all classrooms, but sometimes in the hiring process, people have either not gotten that certification just yet or maybe they're going through an Alt Cert program and they're working towards that, but we have to file a waiver, and they can only be on that waiver for 1 year," she said.
Owens told the board the district pays for trainings and professional development to help teachers attain the required certification, and she said that at present the ESL test to add the certification "is free". Board members and staff agreed the district is filing fewer waivers this year and that recruiting fully certified ESL teachers has been difficult in recent years. The board did not direct immediate policy changes in the meeting transcript; the item remained informational.
