Attorney: Translators lacking in Lawrence schools

May 13--LAWRENCE -- The Department of Justice has been investigating Lawrence schools since 2015 regarding their lack of adequate translation and interpretation services to Spanish-speaking parents of students with special needs.

While officials in the district say they have made strides since the complaint was first lodged, one attorney who represents parents in the school system says she's still seeing issues.

Tere Ramos, an attorney and education and disability advocate, represents a number of Lawrence parents. One came to her recently after a meeting with the school where they filled out a survey indicating they want all communication from the district to be in Spanish, only to be handed the procedural safeguards for parents of children with special needs in English.

"The story about that language survey, [the district] will tell you it's an old problem, it's been solved, but it hasn't," said Ramos. "This story I'm telling you barely happened two weeks ago."

Legally, the district has to provide adequate and qualified translators or interpreters for written communications and orally, if a parent requests it.

Parent engagement in their children's education is believed to be a factor that improves student achievement and graduation rates.

It can be difficult for parents to get involved in their child's education if they walk into a meeting and realize they don't speak the language of the administrator.

Parents of students in Lawrence schools say administrators sometimes use a bilingual teacher, or even that administrator's secretary, as a stand-in interpreter during meetings about their child.

But that poses a conflict of interest, because the secretary or teacher might not be impartial -- or qualified to interpret. It also goes against federal guidelines, according to Ramos.

"Often, I went to meetings where the guidance counselor was also the interpreter, and sometimes you'd have to ask her, are you making a comment as a guidance counselor, or as an interpreter?" said Ramos. "You're not supposed to be editorializing or giving feedback. The lines were constantly blurred."

Ramos said the lack of language access boils down to discrimination, which led her to file the Department of Justice complaint.

The majority of Lawrence students are Latino and speak Spanish as their first language.

Lawrence officials say they've taken steps to improve communication: They hired two full-time interpreters this past winter, have trained 18 staff members to interpret, and contracted an outside agency to translate special education documents.

This all stems from a five-year road map introduced in 2016 by a task force the district created.

"As the roadmap lays out, there is still a lot of work to do," said Chris Markuns, spokesperson for the schools, in an email. "But the ( school system) is fully committed to providing the best possible (special education) services for its families and students. We also recognize that as this work is in progress, and with more than 2,500 (individualized education plans) district-wide, there will be opportunities to do better."

For Ramos, the steps outlined are a start, but they don't go far enough when it comes to accountability or transparency.

She said a parent bill of rights would go far in ensuring parents know what they are entitled to under the law, and can feel empowered asking for it.

"If you're already in a position of having no power ... it's really hard for parents to stop the meeting and say, 'Excuse me I don't want this interpreter,'" she said. "It's tough for someone to say that. Although it's a right, they think, the school gives you this person, you should be so grateful. But no, it's a right to have someone who's adequate."

Ramos is hopeful that Lawrence will continue to make advances. She advocates for a statewide adoption of translated materials that can be shared across districts as needed, and for community interpreter programs.

"They've already shown they have the capacity to put something together, and it's a great start," said Ramos. "They need to take it to the next step, there needs to be accountability for those folks doing the work."

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