Framingham Public Schools Releases 2020-21 School Plan in Just English

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FRAMINGHAM – The Framingham Public Schools released its plan for the 2020-21 school year this afternoon just after 3 p.m., but only in English.

The school district has a policy that any organization that wants to distribute materials in the school system must distribute it in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The press release was in all three languages, but the actual report for parents to read was only available in English at 4:30 p.m. today.

The message to parents in the district, with more than 9,000 students, at 3:30 p.m. said “If you would like more information or have questions on the Plan in a language other than English, please contact the Office of Multilingual Education at ggrieci@framingham.k12.ma.us“

That means parents, who don’t speak English, need to email the district and request the plan, when English-speaking parents can already read the plan. That is not equitable.

The email that went out to parents said that the “final version of the plan will be made available in Spanish and Portuguese and shared with the entire Framingham community.”

But that meant the draft version, which English-speaking parents could read today and then make suggestions on, was not available in any language other than English.

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Parents were provided the plan today, so they could read the 60-plus page documents and provide feedback to the Framingham School Committee at its July 29 meeting.

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 23 percent of students English is not their first language, but in the City of Framingham the rate is much higher at 47.2%.

SOURCE has contact the Superintendent of Schools and the School Committee chair to find out if a translation is coming for those parents which Spanish and Portuguese is their first language.

“The plan had been sent earlier today to the translation staff who are working as hard as they can. The FPS plan was finished in English around 2 a.m. and will be released in Spanish and Portuguese as soon as possible. FPS staff are available over the weekend if it is ready before Monday to update the website once the translation of the more than 60 pages are done,” said Framingham Public Schools in a statement after 5 p.m.

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The school year in 2020-21 will look vastly different than in any year in our lifetime. Providing the plan in one language, is a hardship for many families in Framingham.

Fraimingham Public Schools is better than its municipal counterpart, which rarely releases information in multiple languages. The City of Framingham has been doing better since the pandemic, but many municipal notifications only go out in English.