ONLINE CHATTER >>>

Yesterday's comment of the day came from Monique Avelaine LeTourneau — Tacoma director at Stand for Children — in response to Aaron T. Sherman's op-ed "Online translations vital for equity in Tacoma Public Schools." 

LeTourneau writes,

THANK YOU Aaron for bringing light to this issue. There are not many ways for a non-native English speaker to access information outside of an (inaccurate) Google translate function on the website or by calling the district and talking to an English speaker to get information translated or interpreted. TPS is very open to interpretation/translation services when requested from the community - which is a step in the right direction! - and individual schools sometimes receive these services from the district, but it is not district-wide policy and practice and there is lots of room to grow. I would also suggest that the district considers ways to connect with families outside of online and print resources. Most of our Spanish speaking parents that I work with regularly do not access email or internet at home (or do in limited ways), but communicate via text message and phone. In the case of emergency alerts and school-related announcements, it is beneficial for TPS to explore ways of sharing important announcements in ways that align with how our communities communicate and access information.