Despite a new grant program aimed at establishing dual-language classes across the state by 2040, the return of Woodland School District’s program remains uncertain.
A state law signed in June requires the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop a grant aimed at establishing and expanding dual-language programs. The goal is to fund at least 10 new programs each year until every district that wants to is able to offer dual-language classes by 2040.
In dual language programs, students learn subjects in English and another language, typically Spanish, from kindergarten to high school.
Woodland started its Spanish and English dual-language classes six years ago at Columbia Elementary School, but ended it at the start of the 2023-24 school year.
Woodland continues to face funding issues because of a double levy failure in 2023, making it hard to retain and replace the bilingual staff the program requires.
During the 2022-23 school year, the program was the only one of its kind between Vancouver and Olympia, according to the state.
Staffing shortages
Woodland’s dual language program was one of several cuts resulting from the levy failure.
The program itself was not a direct casualty, but the levy failure meant the district couldn’t hire new teachers, which meant the program’s staff vacancies couldn’t be filled, Superintendent Asha Riley said.
Hiring for the program was difficult because teachers needed to not only be bilingual and biliterate, but also understand how to teach literacy in both languages, Riley said. The pool of teachers with that skillset is small, and Woodland faced competition from larger districts including Vancouver and Evergreen that could offer better pay and benefits.
Just before the levy failure, Woodland lost three teachers to schools in other states.
“Without the teachers, you don’t have a program,” Riley said.
Woodland’s lower salary compared to other nearby districts has pushed teachers to leave the dual-language program for some time, said Laura Walker, whose 9-year-old daughter attended the program before it was shut down.
“It has been very frustrating as a parent to see the other districts in the area recruit the teachers from Woodland for their Spanish programs, and now Woodland no longer has one,” she said. “I don’t blame the teachers for leaving. The economy is difficult for a lot of us and they need to prioritize what is best for them, which in a lot of cases is taking the job with a higher salary.”
How did the program work?
The dual language program combined native Spanish speakers and native English speakers with the goal of having students become fluent in both languages. Students spent half the day learning in Spanish and half the day learning in English.
According to a 2022 report by the U.S. Census Bureau, 12.9 percent of Woodland residents speak Spanish at home.
Former Columbia Elementary Principal Ingrid Colvard led the program’s introduction in 2018. The program began with kindergarten classes, then expanded to a higher grade each year as the program’s first students moved up.
The district received grant funding from the state for curriculum and training, similar to the new grant program, Riley said.
Implementing the program began with a year of research while district staff decided which of the common dual-language program models was most appropriate for Woodland. In the 90/10 model, students begin with 90 percent of instruction in their target language, then shift down each year until they use both languages equally. In the 50/50 model, the one that Woodland ended up using, students learn in both language equally from the start.
Outcomes tend to be strongest in the 90/10 model, but it is more difficult to staff, Riley said. It requires all teachers to be bilingual and biliterate, while in the 50/50 model classes can be taught by a bilingual teacher for the Spanish portion and an English-speaking teacher for the English portion.
Prior to the levy failure, the district was planning to phase its program into the 90/10 model, Riley said.
Looking for alternatives
The loss of the dual language program came as a surprise for parents, Walker said.
“We were all just in a panic and wondering what we could do, because we had not been told the program was on the chopping block,” Walker said.
Riley said the confusion came from the fact that the program had to shut down because the district was unable to hire new staff to fill the vacant positions, not necessarily because the program itself lost funding.
To make up for the loss of the dual language program, Walker founded a Spanish club for former students to practice and keep their skills sharp. The club, which was taught by volunteers, met in the fellowship hall of Woodland Presbyterian Church.
However, the club also had issues with finding teachers. It was first led by a former dual language teacher from Woodland, then by a Washington State University student, but both had to leave the position due to scheduling conflicts. Without a leader, the club has been paused since December.
The club is not actively searching for a new leader, but Walker said she would be happy to reach out to the rest of the club if anyone expressed an interest in applying.
“I didn’t even know where else to go to ask,” she said.
Not being part of the school also made the program more difficult for parents to access. The dual language program was built into the school day, but the club had to be fit separately into their schedules, and parents had to handle transportation.
“I think that was very challenging for families financially and logistically,” Walker said.
An uncertain future
A new levy approved in February will take effect in the spring, but more budget cuts will still be necessary for the 2024-25 school year as Woodland loses access to federal COVID-19 relief funding it had been using to fill in the gaps from the failed 2023 levy.
Walker said that when her daughter heard about the new levy passing, her first question was whether the dual-language program would be returning.
“She loved logging on every day and learning Spanish,” Walker said. “It was her favorite part of school.”
The district has not yet made any decisions about if or when programs cut because of the levy failure, including the dual-language program, will be reinstated, Riley said. Those decisions will likely be made in 2025.
In the meantime, one way she hopes to address the district’s shortage of bilingual teachers is through the Teaching Academy, a collaboration between Woodland and Vancouver’s Cascadia Technical Academy where students can work toward paraeducator certification and earn college credits toward an education degree.
Her hope is that local bilingual students will go through the program, attain a degree and return to teach in Woodland.
“That’s really what you have to do to sustain this program, is build that pipeline of teachers,” Riley said.
