Courtesy of the Hollister School District:
The Hollister School District is excited to announce that Approval of Resolution #5: 20/21 ensuring equity through spanish interpretation of all meetings of the board of trustees and through translation of written materials. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hollister School District has held Board meetings online through the use of Youtube and Zoom. Superintendent Diego Ochoa said, “During the summer months, the district deployed hundreds of T-Mobile wifi hotspots purchased to ensure student access to online instruction. We were thrilled when Spanish speaking parents started using the devices to participate in Board meetings.”
The Hollister School District Board of Trustees quickly sought to make spanish interpretation and translation services the norm at all district meetings. Trustee Jan Grist said, “It was so refreshing to have Spanish speaking parents call in during our meeting. This is a group of parents that we seldom hear from, yet their voices need to be heard about their thoughts on how we are educating their children. In an effort to increase parent participation and viewing during our meetings I wanted our meetings to be translated into Spanish in real time.”
Resolution #5: 20/21 states that the Hollister School District Board of Trustees commits to:
- Assigning funding to ensure that spanish interpretation services are offered at
all district-level meetings, including meetings of the Board of Trustees, of the school district;
- Directing district and school administration to assign staff to begin translating documents into spanish where parent engagement is expected; and
- Conduct a review of district interpretation and translation services at a meeting of the Board of Trustees on or before February 28, 2021.
During these unprecedented times in education, the Hollister School District is proud to have taken the step towards ensuring parental involvement in all manners of district governance.For more information, contact Superintendent Diego Ochoa at [email protected].
