Education

A Language Policy for a School Bus Ride

By Mary Ann Zehr — February 22, 2008 1 min read
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The superintendent of Esmeralda County School District in Goldfield, Nev., sent a letter to parents recently clarifying that “there is no general rule prohibiting Spanish on any of our buses.” According to news reports, a previous note Superintendent Robert Aumaugher sent to parents in October created some confusion about whether Hispanic students were permitted to speak Spanish on the bus—enough confusion that the American Civil Liberties Union got involved in the matter.

For the superintendent’s take on the issue, see the Feb. 12 letter he sent to parents. For the ACLU’s interpretation of what happened, read the organization’s Feb. 21 press release.

An earlier post, “English-Only on School Bus,” points to news coverage of the reaction the superintendent’s note about what language should be spoken on the bus drew several weeks ago.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Learning the Language blog.