Amherst parents worry about dual language program’s future at Fort River
Published: 10-25-2024 1:35 PM |
AMHERST — Families with children enrolled in Caminantes, the dual language program at Fort River School, are raising concerns about whether Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman will support its continuation, after she identified a series of issues with what she is calling a “school within a school.”
With comments from parents and members of the Caminantes Advisory Council provided to both the superintendent and the Amherst School Committee, Herman told committee members at Tuesday’s meeting that she is not considering eliminating the program but wants to grasp its pros and cons.
She said the program has provided better family engagement, cultural competency and academic growth, but also deals with staffing shortages, funding gaps and schedule conflicts. The superintendent also pointed to what she sees as a troubling level of segregation based on language proficiency.
“I stated that Fort River is literally running two schools within a building,” Herman said. “It is a problem that must be addressed.”
Herman’s worry stems, in part, from the segregation that exists.
“You are either in the Caminantes program, or you are in the Explorers program,” Herman said, which leads to labels being based on language proficiency, with some students referred to as bilingual and others as monolingual.
The Caminantes program, launched in 2019, brings together students, about half whose primary language is Spanish and the other half whose primary language is English, to learn core subjects in both languages. It has expanded by one grade level each year and is now offered in grades K-4.
Herman said she is trying to be realistic about Caminantes and how to create a full-school model for it, as it is difficult to run alongside a regular school. Similar programs across the country have been disbanded and were cut, though she never suggested that should happen in Amherst.
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“It cannot continue to run the way it’s run — it’s just not realistic to what is happening. It is best sustainable when it is its own school,” Herman said.
“I want to make it clear: I think the program is valuable, I think it provides a lot of positives for our students, I also just don’t want to be unrealistic with where we are at, and the things we have to do to improve how the program is being done,” she said.
Herman and her team are in the middle of research on what options exist and whether the program could become an entirely bilingual school, with students at both Fort River and Wildwood schools expected to be in a new building by the fall of 2026.
“Program sustainability is a consideration; how do we sustain it and possibly expand it, because dual language programs provide a benefit once implemented, once sustained,” Herman said.
One of the parents submitting comments to both the superintendent and the School Committee was Jennifer Curiale, who has a fourth grader enrolled in Caminantes.
“This program is such an asset to our community and it’s quite disconcerting that many of us have been wondering if it will continue and be supported,” Curiale wrote. “Personally, the Caminantes program is what keeps our family attending Amherst public schools.”
Daniel Toro-Gonzalez, who has two children in the kindergarten and is a member of the program’s advisory committee, along with Marialuisa Di Stefano, Wilma Ortiz, Catherine Infante and Abril Navarro, outlined additional concerns: “Key concerns about the program include unfilled staffing positions essential for the Caminantes program, uncertainty about plans for the 6th grade, teacher shortages and licensing problems, and transportation inefficiencies that affect students’ arrival and departure. These challenges are putting strain on the school’s ability to meet the needs of students and families.”
Toro-Gonzalez also disputed that segregation is happening.
“Opposite of what anyone might think, having the Caminantes program within Fort River School is not having two schools in one. This is an idea that is completely opposite to the spirit of having a dual language program. Caminantes is designed to generate more equal opportunities and to integrate the community.”
School Committee member Jennifer Shiao said people fear losing what’s important to them, and that school leaders should address any issues about lack of integration with the rest of the school. “I am firmly in support of continuing Caminantes for the long term,” Shiao said. “I think it’s a wonderful program and adds so much to our school community.”
The program is important to maintaining enrollment in the district, too, said committee member Bridget Hynes, reflecting on losing a number of students over the years to the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School.
“I wouldn’t be at all supportive of eliminating it, but I would be totally supportive of expanding it somehow so there wouldn’t be that feeling of division,” Hynes said.
Committee member Irv Rhodes said he admires the program and also appreciates Herman doing an analysis of and deep dive into Caminantes.
A thorough and systematic discussion of Caminantes should happen, said committee member Deb Leonard, noting the program is not going away.
“There’s no reason to believe we’re changing direction, certainly not with hearsay and information from other School Committee meetings,” Leonard said.