A Kansas Catholic school may have won an English-only lawsuit, but the church recognizes the rift that is left in the aftermath.

[Harold Schiffman]

Wichita school wins language lawsuit, divides local church
Marty Cooper -

A Kansas Catholic school may have won an English-only lawsuit, but the
church recognizes the rift that is left in the aftermath.

According to The Wichita Eagle newspaper, Judge J. Thomas Marten sided
with St. Anne Catholic School's implementation of its English-only
policy, saying the school did not break any civil rights laws. He
noted the policy, implemented in the fall of 2007, did not impede
learning for any student, Hispanic or not, which would qualify as a
"hostile education environment." Marten said the policy was not
severely enforced enough or in practice for long enough to deprive the
students of a proper education.

However, pain has been left in the hearts of students and church
members at St. Anne, according to the newspaper. Marten criticized
both sides in the lawsuit – three Hispanic families vs. the school –
for the way they handled the disagreement. "It has divided a school,
its church and congregation," the judge laments. "It has divided the
Hispanic community in its congregation. And it has touched a nerve in
this community and across the nation."

Marten also deemed the school's policy "one-sided" and scolded school
administrators for resisting working with Spanish-speaking
parishioners to resolve the dispute. The administrators executed the
policy without consulting the Hispanic students or their families –
the segment, according to Marten, that would be most affected by it.

Students on both sides of the line were distressed over the situation.
The Hispanic students said they felt "harassed and ostracized by being
prohibited from speaking a language common to their family and
culture," while the English-speaking students were intimidated by
Spanish and feared they were being ridiculed in the foreign language.
The school, along with St. Anne's pastor Thomas Leland, believes that
English is "the common ground" for teachers and students and has vowed
to continue bridging the gap between the two sides.

Fred Solis, a diocese spokesman, notes that the church realizes it
needs to mend the rifts within the parish, especially because a third
of its members are Hispanic. "There's a desire to bridge the problem
and to bridge the pain," Solis adds.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=218368

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