USD 501 succeeds in finding enough bilingual teachers for 2015-16

Bilingual classes will continue next year at both Whitson and Scott elementaries after the district was able to find enough qualified candidates.

District administrators had been concerned it could be necessary to phase out some of Whitson’s classes because of a lack of qualified teachers for the Spanish-English dual-language program.

The district had 10 openings for bilingual teachers for next school year, and so far has filled nine. Administrators are hopeful the remaining job will soon be filled.

Two years ago the school board considered phasing out Whitson Elementary’s dual-language classes, citing resource limitations and staffing difficulties.

The board agreed not to do so at the request of parents and children who gave impassioned speeches in favor of retaining the classes. However, board members said they would revisit the question if staffing or resource limitations became too problematic.

This year a partnership between the education departments of Spain and Kansas has aided the district in finding enough teachers.

According to Anita Curry, head of services for English language learners in USD 501, the district anticipates that seven of the 10 positions will be filled with teachers from Spain.

More than 600 elementary students are enrolled in USD 501’s bilingual programs, with about 540 at Scott and 100 at Whitson.

About half are native Spanish speakers and half native English speakers. That is by design, so children can support each other with their native skills as they spend about half their class time learning in each language.

The programs started six years ago as a pilot program with kindergartners at Whitson and preschoolers at Scott.

This month Whitson graduated its first group of bilingual fifth-graders, who will continue their Spanish and English-language education at Landon Middle School in August.

The school board argues the programs offer potential economic benefits for Topeka — by tapping into local language resources — and that dual-language education has cognitive benefits and the capacity to boost student achievement.

The local business community also has voiced support for the program, and administrators say there is currently a waiting list for children to enroll in bilingual classes.

Whitson has one bilingual class per grade, while Scott is in the process of becoming a building-wide bilingual site. Eighteen of the school’s 28 classrooms are now bilingual, and the transition will be complete in 2018.