Nevada School District Agrees To Allow Students To Speak Spanish On Bus

[Harold Schiffman]

Nevada School District Agrees To Allow Students To Speak Spanish On
Bus (2/15/2008)

CONTACT: media at aclu.org; (212) 549-2666

Esmeralda County Policy Change Comes After ACLU Sends Letter To School District

LAS VEGAS – After receiving a letter from the American Civil Liberties
Union, the Esmeralda County School District has agreed to make it
clear that students are allowed to speak Spanish while they ride the
school bus and will send a letter to parents - in both Spanish and
English - explaining the district's language policy. The new policy
rescinds a ban on speaking Spanish on the bus that was approved by the
Esmeralda County School Board in October 2007.

"The school district understands that students have a constitutional
right to free speech," said Gary Peck, Executive Director of the ACLU
of Nevada. "Once the superintendent was informed that prohibiting
students from speaking Spanish violated their rights, the school
district was very willing to work out a policy that both encourages
students to practice their English skills and allows them to speak
their native language."  Esmeralda County School District's revised
policy states that "there is no general rule prohibiting Spanish on
any of our buses."

The prohibition on Spanish directly affected about a dozen high school
students from a small farming and ranching community in Esmeralda who
are bused by the Esmeralda County School District several miles –
about an hour and a half each way – to Tonopah High School in
neighboring Nye County.

On the evening leg of the bus ride that these students take back to
Esmeralda County, there is an academic period for the first 45
minutes, during which the students are required to do homework, study,
or read. The second 45-minute period of the evening ride is considered
free time. During the academic period, the school district asks that
all students practice their English skills. Students who are more
proficient in English may speak Spanish while assisting those whose
English is more limited. Students who are still developing their
English skills will work with the tutor who rides with them.

Students may speak to each other in any language they choose during
the morning leg of the bus ride as well as during the non-academic
portion of the evening bus ride. When communicating with the bus
driver and with tutors on the bus, the school district asks that
students speak in English or that they ask another student to
interpret if necessary because neither the bus driver nor the tutors
speak Spanish.

"We are pleased that the school district recognizes that it's possible
to achieve its educational goals while embracing our nation's growing
diversity," said Jennifer Chang, staff attorney with the ACLU
Immigrants' Rights Project. "The school district's new rule welcomes
Latino children into the school community; this benefits children of
all backgrounds." There are other buses that shuttle students back and
forth between Esmeralda County and Nye County. These bus rides do not
include an academic period, and students on these buses also may speak
any language they wish.

The Esmeralda County School District letter to parents is online in English at:
www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/34172res20080212.html
and in Spanish at: www.aclu.org/espanol/34175res20080212.html

The ACLU's letter to the school district is online in both English and
Spanish at:
www.aclu.org/immigrants/discrim/33863res20080131.html
and www.aclu.org/espanol/33867res20080131.html

More information on the work of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project is
available at: www.aclu.org/immigrants


 http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/34138prs20080215.html

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