Parents appeal Wichita school's 'English only' policy
WICHITA | Hispanic parents are appealing a federal judge's ruling upholding a Catholic school's policy requiring students to speak only English while in school.

The appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals was filed Tuesday by three families who sued the Catholic Diocese of Wichita seeking to ban the policy at St. Anne's Catholic School.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten found in favor of the diocese in August, ruling the English-only policy does not in itself create a hostile learning environment. His written ruling was issued last month.

The lawsuit was filed by parents Mike and Clara Silva, Maria and Fermin Fernandez and Guadalupe Cruz-Tello on behalf of their minor children. The three children at the center of the case were sixth-graders when St. Anne Catholic School adopted the policy in September 2007.

Named as defendants were the St. Anne Principal Margaret Nugent and the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

Posted on Tue, Feb. 17, 2009 01:14 PM


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