District presents language access plan; staff recommends translation, monitoring and possible policy adoption

District staff presented a Language Access Plan (LAP) on July 22 that lays out how Revere Public Schools will provide written translation and verbal interpretation to families who speak languages other than English. The plan was developed with partners including UMass Amherst and DESE, staff said.

Cynthia Burchard, introduced in the meeting as the district coordinator for family liaisons and language access, described the plan as “a practical road map” to ensure families receive important school information in a language they understand. The plan relies on the home-language survey recorded at registration, ParentSquare communications, telephone interpretation (Lionbridge), trained family liaisons, and an annual evaluation process, John Linds, the district’s communications director, said.

The plan includes training and capacity-building: staff reported that UMass Amherst-sponsored training has certified more than 30 interpreters with special education and general-education experience. Jennifer LaBelita (presented as the director of Multilingual Learning and World Language Departments) said the LAP document is split into sections tailored for families and for staff to increase usability.

Recommendations and next steps: Dr. Garcia (who introduced the presentation) and staff recommended translating and monitoring content, ensuring culturally responsive translations of legal and academic documents, and converting the LAP into a district policy to give it weight and sustained oversight. “Monitoring is where we are,” Dr. Garcia said, emphasizing data collection, evaluation and iterative improvement. Staff said the translated directory of resources will be posted on the district website, copies will be available at school offices, and notices will be pushed via ParentSquare and other district channels.

Questions from committee members included how ParentSquare handles document translation and how families without internet access will receive translated materials. Staff answered that ParentSquare offers language selections for messages and that translated PDFs will be posted to the website with guidance to parents to use site translation features; printed copies will also be available in school offices. One committee member noted that ParentSquare’s PDF handling has limits and urged staff to upload translatable text formats when possible.

No formal vote was taken; staff requested the committee consider adopting the LAP as a district policy at a future meeting to strengthen implementation.