The Cherry Creek School District settled a federal investigation into allegations that parents with limited English skills couldn’t fully participate in their children’s education because the district didn’t provide adequate translation, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado received multiple complaints over the last three years that parents in the 52,000-student metro Denver district couldn’t take part in school programs and activities because Cherry Creek failed to provide “effective language assistance services,” according to an announcement of the settlement.
Federal investigators concluded Cherry Creek fell short in identifying parents who needed language assistance, did not provide them with adequate enrollment information and didn’t provide essential information in a language they could understand.
The 17-page settlement agreement, signed Wednesday, lays out detailed requirements for how the school district must translate essential information, from student handbooks to disciplinary documents, into parents’ preferred language.
More than 150 languages are spoken by parents of children in Cherry Creek schools, the Justice Department said.
“This agreement is intended to ensure that the Cherry Creek School District implements policies and practices to enable all parents in the district to participate meaningfully in their children’s education,” Colorado U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan said in a news release.
In a statement Thursday, Cherry Creek officials said they worked collaboratively with the Justice Department to strengthen translation systems to make sure they’re meeting the needs of families with limited English proficiency.
“Equity is a core value of the Cherry Creek School District and it is a priority for the district to find ways to continuously improve how we serve families who speak multiple languages,” district spokesperson Abbe Smith said in a statement.
The school district did not admit to any violations of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act by signing the agreement, according to settlement documents.
Under the agreement, Cherry Creek must identify parents with limited English proficiency who are looking at enrolling their children in the district; provide translation and language assistance for those parents during suspension or expulsion proceedings; and distribute surveys and hold listening sessions in more than a dozen languages to better understand communication needs.
If a language is spoken by more than 100 parents, Cherry Creek must translate district-wide messages containing essential information into that language, according to the settlement. At the school and classroom level, that threshold falls to 10 or more parents.
The agreement lasts for at least three years, and federal officials can conduct site visits and interview staff and students to make sure Cherry Creek is complying with the settlement.
If the district breaches the agreement, the Justice Department may extend it beyond three years or start court proceedings to enforce it, according to the settlement.
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