Parents in the Hispanic community are happy their voices are finally being heard within Beaumont ISD. Last week, Jesus Abrego, the director of the Hispanic Ministry, helped organize a meeting between parents and district officials at Cristo Rey church.
"I think that meeting showed them the district is interested and the district learned that they need to improve their channels of communication with the Spanish speaking community." said Abrego.
BISD presented an on going plan for the 2019 - 2020 school year.
From BISD:
"We believe it is a top priority to meet the needs of all of our students. In addition to staff recruitment, the District is continuing, and strengthening, our focus on outreach to our Hispanic community. A few examples of recent events/initiatives include:
-The parent meeting held at El Cristo Rey
-Our third annual Bilingual Parent Resources Night, held this Tuesday
-The development of the Hispanic Parent Advisory Committee, which will meet monthly to provide feedback to the District
-BISD increased the number of teachers who are ESL certified this year and has phased in new programs aimed at teaching kids language proficiency from a young age and transitioning them to regular classes faster
-English classes for parents
-Computer classes for parents (in Spanish and English)".
Blanca Afonso, a parent at BISD, says as the Hispanic population in Beaumont increases, the number of bilingual administrators and teachers should too.
"The Hispanic population is growing. I've been in Beaumont for thirteen years, and before, there weren't as many of us.", Afonso said in Spanish. "
"We need more Hispanic personnel in our schools. For example, in the meetings we attend at my daughter's school, about 80% of us are Hispanic. We're very interested in our kid's education. If there was better communication between us and the school, we'd get excellent results for everyone.", Afonso added.
BISD is offering increased pay for bilingual specific postions. There are currently seven positions open with the district for administrators and teachers.