Numbers of Hispanic students soar in York City

Elsie Soto listened one recent evening as a teacher explained words like "attendance" and "pupil."  On a worksheet, Soto jotted down their equivalent in Spanish.

Soto was in an English class at Goode K-8 School, offered by the York City School District, just one of the ways the district is trying to reach a changing city population.

In the past 20 years, the number of Hispanic students in the district has doubled. In the past several years, those students have become the largest ethnic group in the schools.

Soto, from Puerto Rico, is part of the district's outreach to this growing population. She understands more English than she can speak, but she wants to know it better for both her work and her 8-year-old son. When he needs help with his homework, she wants to be able to help him.

The language barrier is one of the challenges the school district is trying to combat, as it works to connect with students, parents and staff members who speak different languages.

Hispanic population surges

Last year, Hispanic students made up about 42 percent of enrollment in the city school district, according to data available from the state education department. The next largest group was black students, at about 36 percent.

The same data isn't available from the state for the current school year, but district officials estimated that Hispanic students make up about 47 percent of the student body; 10 years ago, 36 percent of students were Hispanic.

The group itself is diverse. Some of those students' families have been in the United States for decades. Others are newer, arriving in York from places like Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.

The number of students for whom English is not their first language has been growing, too. For this school year, about 26 percent of students are classified as English learners. And while that group includes students who hail from a variety of countries, from Haiti to Hungary, the vast majority are from Spanish-speaking countries.

For the school district, the growth in these populations means more work to connect with those students and their families. The district doesn't want language to be a barrier between schools' English-speaking staff and parents for whom Spanish is a primary language, said Supt. Eric Holmes.

"The overall goal, is we want our parents, all of our parents, to feel welcome," he said. "We don't want them to believe any barriers exists."

Bridging the language gap

A few months ago, the school board approved hiring several bilingual office staff members. That brought the district up to having one full-time bilingual office staffer in each school building, Holmes said. At the high school, each administrator now has a bilingual office assistant. The idea is to make sure there is always someone available who can translate.

The district had cutbacks in recent years and had fallen behind in that area, Holmes said, but "we're trying to rectify that now."

There are bilingual outreach workers who work with students classified as English learners, too, according to Deb Hioutis, who coordinates the English learner programs.

"We want them to have a really good, smooth transition," she said, adding that some new families from other countries might not understand things like attendance requirements.

Those students not only come from different countries, but their levels of English differ, too. Some might speak English at all. Others might speak some English, but not read or write it as well, Hioutis said.

The district's newly rewritten curriculum in English language arts created strategies and modifications that teachers can use to help those learning English, she said. Teachers have to be creative in finding ways to reach students, too, she said. One size doesn't fit all.

Hioutis said she's always looking for more teachers certified to work with English language students. Holmes said there's more demand and competition for them among districts, and he suggested colleges might want to encourage more education students to pursue that area.

Elodia Barajas, a district liaison who works with all parents, said the district has been offering English as a second language classes for some time and is now offering parents citizenship classes, too.

The district has parent liaisons — volunteers who receive a small stipend — in each school but could use more who speak Spanish, particularly at Jackson K-8 School because of its large Hispanic population, she said.

The school district recognizes that its demographics are changing and welcomes the diversity, Holmes said.

"Our goal as a school district is to bridge those gaps, tear down those barriers that exist where parent don't feel that they can play a part," he said. "We want them to feel as though they are welcome."