Hundreds of Alachua County parents urge translation services from school district - WCJB - Translation

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Hundreds of parents in Alachua County are demanding the school district to step up efforts in providing information in different languages.

“It’s a right that any parent, any student in the school district can request,” shared Adriana Menendez with Rural Women’s Health Project. “They have the right to receive translation services. They should be able to receive information in their language.”

Menendez advocates for immigrants in the county and said she’s witnesses the problem first-hand.

“One time an only Spanish-speaking parent received a ‘no school’ notice in English,” stated Menendez. “They dropped off their child at school. When their child opened the classroom door, there was no teacher inside. There were no students inside.”

Advocates, like Ethan Maia with Gainesville Immigration Neighbor Inclusion Initiative (GINI) said the school district is not doing enough to bridge the language barrier between parents and staff.

“Many of these families are just left out completely in the dark,” shared Maia. “Or if they’re trying to reach out to the schools, they are unable to get an interpreter in their language so they can actually effectively communicate with their child’s school.”

Menendez told TV20 more than 600 parents signed a petition which requests additional translation services. Meanwhile Alachua County school district officials said they’re working on new initiatives.

“We instituted the Language Line program that allows us to communicate with parents by phone or through zoom, in 200 plus languages including American sign language so we’re getting a lot of use out of that,” shared ACPS spokesperson Jackie Johnson.

Johnson said the school district hired a Spanish translator in August 2022. According to Skyward, there are more than 4000 students who come from Spanish-speaking households in the county.

“Sometimes we ask for a translation service or for someone to translate and we have to wait a long time,” shared parent Marvin Ramos. “Assistance in other languages would also be great because people speak several languages, not just Spanish and English.”

Johnson claims district officials are working to break language and cultural barriers.

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