The Charleston County School District will begin working on new initiatives to help people with limited English, following an announment they'll be entering an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
In March 2020, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division settled an investigation with the school district that was triggered by complaints that the district failed to communicate essential information to thousands of Spanish-speaking, multilingual families, effectively denying their children full and equal access to the district’s education programs and services.
Since then, district officials claim they have taken immediate appropriate action to overcome language barriers and provide equal participation in instructional programs for students.
“We translated essential documents in the language of the parents that they understood that was considered relevant information for parents to be informed so that they can make decisions about their child’s educational programs and services,” CCSD Associate Superintendent for Student support services Michele English-Watson said.
The district has also created the Office of Translation and Interpretation to provide immediate response to oral interpretation and written translation requests.
The CCSD currently serves 5,530 multi-lingual students who speak more than 70 languages. The district has six bilingual secretaries, and they are hoping to increase that number to 20.
The Office of Translation & Interpretation provides language support to assist in the communication of academic information between schools and parents to increase engagement in school activities and district-wide functions. This full range of language services are designed to help in CCSD's mission of providing a comprehensive educational experience to prepare students for college, career, and life.
The service includes:
Interpretation (Oral): For district-wide and school-wide functions, we offer oral consecutive or simultaneous interpretation services into Spanish with the ability to provide services into other languages for district-wide events.
Translation (Written): We offer translation services of a wide variety of documents into Spanish through our in-house staff. Translations are also available. Documents submitted for translation will be processed in the order received and the typical turn-around time is within 20 days although this may vary due to availability, the complexity of the document, and length.
Over-the-phone Interpretation (OPI): OPI services are available in more than 240 languages through an over-the-phone interpreting service for simple matters not requiring an in-person interpreter. The service is available to anyone with CCSD credentials.
Diana Martinez has a child that attends the James Island Charter High School. She told Live5 News there have been some issues with the language barrier, and she believes it is important to provide adequate translation services in public schools.
"I would be happy because it’s not just me, I have friends that struggle with English. We know English is the primary language in the United States and we bring our kids here for a better future, but we u don’t really speak English, just Spanish,” Martinez said. “I would be happy if they had someone or more people to help us in that aspect.”
District leaders say most of the initiatives are currently in place, but they will monitor the ongoing plans and track the request of translation and interpretation services.