SEATTLE — Seattle Public Schools will begin immediate testing of more than 1,000 students the state has identified as not being properly placed in the English Language Learners' program. The state superintendent's office also determined the district is out of compliance by not offering these language services at each school where students need it.
About 1,200 students were not identified and tested for ELL, or English Language Learners. Another 344 students had parents who waived these services, likely because ELL was not offered at their neighborhood schools.
Parents must be given the option to waive the services, though many choose to send their children to another school that does offer ELL.
Seattle Public Schools has 64 schools offering ELL services, out of 97 total schools. But the state has now determined the district must provide services at every school where there is an ELL need.
Regarding the 1,200 students who fell through the cracks, Veronica Gallardo, the director for ELL and International Programs, said, "It wasn't that we were intentionally missing those students, but with the support of OSPI and our state ELL program, they were helping us really key in on key data, which we hadn't done before."
OSPI told KIRO 7 this was a relatively new way to capture data of students, to identify the ones who may be missing these services.
The review determining lack of compliance was part of an annual study done by OSPI.
Regarding the findings, Gallardo said, "I wouldn't say it's a surprise, but it's certainly something we've been working towards."
There used to be many more students whose parents waived services, and she said the district has been working to bring that number down.
The district will now have staff reaching out to the students who may have been missed, administering placement tests immediately. This is being done in addition to standardized testing already going on. Some placement tests may need to happen on Saturdays.
KIRO 7 spoke to a former ELL student who attended Highline and Bellevue schools. Lizbeth Sanchez said she found ELL services to be crucial.
Sanchez moved to the U.S. from Mexico 10 years ago and supplemented her ELL education by studying English at home for eight hours a day.
She later graduated high school in three years, graduated from Seattle University, and went into a marketing career.
"It's worth it. If they invest more on immigrants who need to learn the language, we come without a sense of entitlement. We want to do something. If we're here, we want to do something, and we come to do it big," Sanchez said.
Sanchez said some people may argue whether this is a good use of taxpayer dollars.
She said, "Immigrant parents are also paying taxes, regardless if they don't have documentation. Their taxes are withdrawn from their paycheck before they even receive any money."
Sierra Molton, a social worker with the Refugee and Immigrant Children Program of Lutheran Community Services, said she also sees extremely hard-working students who rely on ELL.
Molton works with immigrant or refugee children who live in foster homes.
When she helps those students navigate the school system, she observes "some schools are stronger than others. All of them [students] have been able to receive adequate support. Sometimes my program supplements with some private tutoring."
While Molton said she has a positive experience with the hard-working ELL staff members in several districts, she is also not surprised to learn that Seattle Public Schools does not have ELL at every campus.
She told KIRO 7 she looks forward to seeing the system improved.
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