Celebrate Language Diversity!
Tuesday, January 23rd. Riverhead School District Board Meeting.
Do you believe that public meetings should be available in key languages for the entire student body and wider school community to understand?
Bring yourself (and a friend) to the meeting to share your concerns, hopes, and dreams for the school district in both Spanish and English.
Dear Community Members:
Some of you may know that people in our Riverhead Central School District community have been asking to have the school board meetings simultaneously translated/interpreted into Spanish for a long time. Riverhead RASi learned of that effort last year. And, as a school board candidate, Riverhead RASi Coordinator, Kimberly Wilder, made it an issue throughout her campaign last April and May.
We believe at some meetings — according to anticipated need and the topic — the district has had Spanish Interpreters available. Though, we are asking for more support, visibility, and consistency to ensure that students and parents whose first language is Spanish are empowered to make decisions and share concerns with school leaders. Interpreters at meetings should be certified.
It probably makes sense to have a certified Interpreter to support parents who want to attend with their listening and public speaking (if they wish to make comments.) In addition, it might be useful to have the meeting “captioned” in Spanish in the video, either live, or shortly after each meeting.
Riverhead RASi went to the January 9th meeting to underscore the need for simultaneous, Spanish Interpretation/Translation. Kimberly Wilder “translated herself” by making comments in Spanish first and then in English*
Thanks to previous community efforts and thanks to RASi’s efforts, we were pleased to find that there was a school district teacher at the back of the BOE meeting available for parents who wanted interpretation through headphones. This is a good sign!
Our efforts now include:
– Making sure there is always a qualified Spanish Language Interpreter at school board meetings
– Making sure the district announces this availability widely to invite community members to attend and participate at meetings
– And, asking the Riverhead Central School District to consider if they can put immediate Spanish subtitles on the broadcast video or to simultaneously broadcast in Spanish on the video. (Since the beginning of the pandemic restrictions, most people participate in school board meetings from home via video.)
We want to continue to encourage the school district to strengthen all avenues for outreach to the Spanish Language community.
To that end…and in celebration of more and more access for everyone in the community…
Riverhead RASi is inviting, encouraging, and celebrating everyone who can join us at the BOE meeting on Tuesday, January 23rd. And, no matter which languages you usually speak or are fluent in, please try to present in English and Spanish. (Just like Ms. Wilder did, you can prepare comments and have a friend help you translate and/or coach you on the presentation!)
Please do save the date and join us at the Riverhead School Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, January 23rd. The Riverhead School Board meeting on 1/23/24 will be held at the Riverhead High School, (6pm Executive Session.) Beginning of public portion at 7pm.
The school will post details of the school board meeting and an agenda on the school website: riverhead.net Look for the tab that says “BOE” and then “BOE Meeting Info”: Here. https://go.boarddocs.com/ny/rcsd/Board.nsf/Public
Kind regards,
Kimberly Wilder
Coordinator, Riverhead Area School Info/Riverhead RASi,
a project of Wilderside, Ltd.
*The comments Ms. Wilder wrote in English were translated into Spanish with help from a friend who speaks Spanish, and some in-person and technological coaching of Ms. Wilder’s rudimentary Spanish skills. You can do it, too!
Riverhead Area School Info 