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Skokie 68 proposes renaming EL services, reports rising multilingual population and improved exit rates
Summary
Director Karina Lubiano told the April 17 board that the district will transition EL services to a new "Multilingual Services" department, citing growth in multilingual learners (closer to 40% districtwide), increased EL exit rates (9.6% to 12.3% year over year), staffing increases and planned curricular alignment to WIDA standards.
At the April 17 Skokie SD 68 board meeting, Karina Lubiano, director for multilingual services, presented district data showing substantial growth in English‑learner and multilingual students and outlined a rebranding and strategy to expand supports. Lubiano said the department will move from an "EL services" framing to a broader "Multilingual Services" name to reflect bilingual students, newcomers and students who speak multiple languages.
Lubiano noted that "Our last, record is 32 percent of our students are ELs in Skokie 68. And right now, I'd like to say we're closer to 40 percent." She also said the district's EL exit rate rose from 9.6% in 2023 to 12.3% in 2024, which she described as roughly double the state exit rate. The presentation outlined five strategic goals — equitable access, native‑language support, cultural enrichment, family partnership and advocacy/identity — and proposed curricular alignment with WIDA standards and a multilingual handbook.
Administrators described staffing changes to support the program: the district will expand ESL specialist positions so that more buildings have dedicated specialists. "So we currently have, 2 ESL specialists in the district, and there's a split between 2 buildings. And now each building will have an ESL, a dedicated ESL specialist... 4 total," Lubiano said. The team also described newcomer summer school, language clubs at the junior high and the district’s use of "pocket talk" translation devices that support more than 100 languages. Board members asked for follow‑up data on after‑school participation, transportation correlations and parental opt‑out reasons; administration said it would collect additional metrics.
