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The
Cleveland Metropolitan School District entered into a
resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s
Office for Civil Rights last month regarding the rights of
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) parents with children
enrolled in the District. LEP is the limited ability to read,
write, speak or understand English.
Megan L.
Sprecher, an attorney with Legal Aid, filed a complaint against the District for
not providing appropriate interpreting and translation services
to LEP parents, a legal right guaranteed by Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The agreement,
reached on September 14, 2011, states that the District will
develop a written plan to adequately notify the parents and
provide them with meaningful access to the school’s programs and
activities. Specifically, the District will develop a
notification system for parents in a language that they can
understand, identify LEP parents within the school, determine
what language is best to communicate with them in, and provide a
centralized list of LEP parents and the language access services
they require.
The District
will also ensure that translators and interpreters are qualified
and trained to maintain the confidentiality of the families.
The interpreters furnished will also be trained, in both English
and another language, in all the necessary terminology, such as
special education terms. The translators will provide written
communications and vital documents to the LEP parents in the
language they understand and using appropriate vocabulary and
phraseology.
The District
is required to submit this plan to the Office of Civil Rights
for review and approval. They will then monitor the District
until it has found that the District is in compliance with its
plan and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
All other
public and charter/community schools are also required to
provide language access to parents under Title VI. This
resolution agreement could be applied to other schools and
districts in the area.
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