Aug 4, 2006 5:58 pm US/Central
DISD Requiring Administrators To Learn Spanish
by Steve Pickett
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Spanish is becoming a language of priority for the Dallas Independent School District.
Starting this year, a number of schools face a district requirement regarding the language spoken by principals and campus leaders. Schools with a majority student population of children who don't speak English very well are now required to have top level campus administrators, like the principal, speak the same language as the students.
Robert Peters is the principal at John W. Runyon Elementary School in Dallas. He has just ten days before the new school year begins, and he has now starting to take on a new challenge – a new language.
Peters recently traveled to Mexico, on the district's dime, to learn the language that 60 percent of his students speak.
"The opportunity to learn more Spanish is something all administrators in the district understand the importance of, and I believe it's something administrators want to do," said Peters.
Half of the teachers working for Peters are bilingual. They say that his Spanish is "muy bien" for the school they serve.
"Oh, I'm really pleased with Mr. Peters, with the way he's learning Spanish, because he can communicate with everybody here," said teacher Daisy Merino.
Principal Peters isn't just dabbling in the language. This is an actual requirement by the district, based on the number of children in the school. Administrators have three years to acquire these language skills.
Not everyone believes that it's needed, however. The Dallas School Board passed the policy last year. It was not a unanimous vote.
(CBS 11 News)
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