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08-20-2006, 01:50 PM #1
Mississippi Gulf Coast schools bracing for Hispanic influx
http://www.clarionledger.com
August 20, 2006
Coast schools bracing for Hispanic influx
Administrators say they are prepared to make needed changes
By Julie Goodman
jgoodman@clarionledger.com
School administrators on the Mississippi Gulf Coast say they are bracing for a rise in immigrant students because of post-Hurricane Katrina rebuilding.
"Our children get along famously in the school district," said Pascagoula Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich, whose Web site information already was translated into Spanish.
The Coast for years has included a significant Vietnamese community, and the casinos, along with Keesler Air Force Base and Pascagoula's shipyard, always have drawn a diverse and transient population to the area.
Now, with a new Hispanic immigrant labor population brought on by Hurricane Katrina, school districts say they are prepared to make any necessary changes. Those changes could include hiring staffers to help translate documents from Spanish.
David Spinks, director of federal programs with Biloxi public schools, which includes the English Language Learners program, said he has noticed an increase in the number of Hispanic students this year.
Although there is no official count, he said he's noticed a hike in the number of placement tests taken by incoming students.
However, the current influx is more likely from job activity at the casinos, not Katrina labor, he said. Workers who came for post-storm labor probably have not brought their families over because of the lack of housing.
That could change in the next three years.
"I don't see a huge increase this year, but it's possible. ... Now, in light of the possibility of that and with the superintendent and his wisdom, we now have translated our student handbooks into Vietnamese and Spanish," Spinks said.
"The principals and the staff have all dealt with multicultured children for so long that it's almost second nature."
Last spring, the district hired several of its bilingual faculty members to help translate placement and hearing tests, and it may hire a full-time Spanish-language translator to focus on documents and registration.
Spanish-speaking children enrolled in school will learn English, and parents who want to learn the language can turn to advocates offering free courses.
Parents who fail to learn the language could put children at a significant disadvantage.
"What we don't want to see is when parents who are only Spanish speakers have to use their children as interpreters, because it can be very difficult for the child," said Mary Townsend, who works with the Hispanic/Latino Ministries of the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church.
"You're a 9-year-old boy and you have to go to the doctor with your mother, it's not good for the child."Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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08-20-2006, 02:07 PM #2
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"What we don't want to see is when parents who are only Spanish speakers have to use their children as interpreters, because it can be very difficult for the child," said Mary Townsend, who works with the Hispanic/Latino Ministries of the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church."Remember the Alamo!"
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08-20-2006, 03:55 PM #3"What we don't want to see is when parents who are only Spanish speakers have to use their children as interpreters, because it can be very difficult for the child," said Mary Townsend, who works with the Hispanic/Latino Ministries of the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church.
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