BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Friends of Riverglades Dual Language will meet with the Chair of the School Board on March 1, hoping to get more answers to their questions.
“If you are going to start a program and you are going to have so much dedication and hard work from these children, it’s only fair that they are able to see it through till the end,” shared Danielle Hoffman, a mother of a first grader at Riverglades Elementary.
In Broward County, some parents are raising concerns about the future of a bilingual, bicultural program called Dual Language.
According to the district, around 40 schools across the county have it, and more than 47 hundred students take part in the program, which allows kids to be taught in both English and Spanish during their school day.
However, some believe the program’s future is uncertain at one school.
“Something I have noticed with my own children is that they are so much more open, they are so much more embracing,” shared Christian Gordun.
Gordun and his wife Tatiana are parents to four children, three of whom are part of the Riverglades Elementary Dual Language Program.
They have raised their kids in a tri-lingual household and are glad school can reinforce their learning.
“The way we both learned, is you need outside influence to kind of give you the support,” shared Tatiana.
She furthered, “Coming here, being away from our family, school provides the day-to-day so they can actually learn from their peers and practice.”
And it is not just Spanish speakers that benefit. Eden Pecaut has been in the program since Kindergarten. She’s now a fifth grader, a product of her school’s pilot class of this program.
“She has grown in confidence in speaking to adults in Spanish, which I think is crucial in South Florida,” explained Eden’s mother, Lauren. “There’s some things you can’t get outside of an immersion when you are talking about another language, so when she is immersed in it in the classroom throughout the day, that’s an experience that we can’t offer her at home.”
The Dual Language Program began in Broward County almost 25 years ago under a grant program. Since 2013, it’s expanded, and since 2017, it’s been a fixture at Riverglades, now teaching 215 students.
According to the district’s website, Kindergarten students can enroll in the program. They undergo orientation and take a basic language test. Out of 100 students who apply to Riverglades, roughly 44 Kindergartners are selected.
The class is then divided, each taking turns learning half the day in English and then half the day in Spanish.
“It is a lot of work for us as teachers, but we love promoting cultures,” shared Yadira Navarro, one of the Dual Language teachers at Riverglades.
Navarro said the goal for their students is to continue the program through high school when they would be given a certificate and seal of bi-literacy.
But the problem is the program may not see the current group of fifth graders at the school get that far.
“I think we need to address the teacher staffing issues. Teacher recruitment and retention is a problem, and my daughter felt that,” stated Lauren Pecaut.
Last year, Emma and her classmates’ teacher left, leaving the students without the program.
According to Emma’s mom, district representatives did step in, but they could not find a replacement until this school year.
A teacher told Florida 24 Network those teaching dual language have to pass a test and receive certification, a specialty that’s hard to come by and keep.
It’s what propelled this grassroots group of parents, Friends of Riverglades Dual Language, to try and look into funding and allocations.
“Honestly, we don’t have a ton of visibility into how it’s funded and how the process is,” shared Parsiri Stelnik, one of the parents in the group.
Florida 24 Network looked through Broward County’s school funding allocations for this school year and did not find the Dual Language Program listed.
It’s also not listed in the Dual Language Program Parent Guidelines or on the district’s website.
When Florida 24 Network asked the school district, they shared that the program is funded by various sources.
The district explained an instructional materials allocation goes towards core materials. Title III funds go towards supplemental native language resources and to provide a language enrichment camp to schools that apply.
They furthered that schools can use their own funds to supplement the program.
But the district did not tell me the projected cost to keep the program afloat and how much schools are putting in of their own money.
However, the district did release this statement which reads:
Broward County Public Schools prides itself in providing unique and engaging learning opportunities that prepare students to thrive and succeed in tomorrow’s world. The District is proud of the success of the Dual Language Program, which offers learners a pathway to becoming fully bilingual; however, funding and teacher shortages – especially of those who focus on bilingual education – is an ongoing challenge faced by public school districts across the nation. The District is continuing to work with Riverglades Elementary School’s administration in developing ways to address the circumstances being experienced by their students as they graduate to the next grade level.
But parents want more answers.
“It’s a hard program, you have to test into it, and then you have to maintain your grades to stay in it, and these kids work so hard,” said Danielle Hoffman.
She furthered, “They do double the work, double the homework, they deserve the ability to see it through, and that is what was promised to us.”
This group said they have created a petition asking the district for more insight into funding and more money, already receiving hundreds of signatures.
They also want to create an advisory council like what ESE and Gifted programs have, representing the interest of parents to the school board.
“As Broward, as Parkland gets more diverse, we’ve seen it here, you hear languages more. I think it shows there’s a need for it, and that these kids will really gain from that,” explained Gordun.
He furthered, “Our kids have progressed immensely because of it, and honestly, we are so pleased this program exists and we are fighting to make sure that it continues for them.”
According to the Florida Association for Bilingual Education, there are more than 100 bilingual education programs across the state.
But Florida is the only state in the US that does not report its bilingual programs in the Consolidated State Performance Report for the Federal Department of Education.
That report helps allocate funding.
