Interpreters for Parent-Teacher Conferences

Since we have a very limited number of interpreters for the entire district (fewer than 15 Spanish and two Vietnamese interpreters who are available at any given time), we need to make their participation at the schools as efficient as possible.

Therefore, we ask the school personnel to schedule conferences for Spanish- and Vietnamese-speaking parents consecutively as much as possible. We encourage multiple teachers to schedule their conferences in blocks of time so that one or two interpreters can cover the conferences one right after the other. We realize this takes a lot of coordination among the teachers, but it will allow us to provide the best service possible. Sample Schedule of Parent-Teacher Conferences

We simply do not have the resources to send several interpreters for conferences scheduled at the same time. In addition to parent conferences scheduled for the same time periods at many sites throughout the district, there are other functions for which interpreters are needed at the schools: IEPs, student hearings, SAT meetings, etc.

Furthermore, please keep in mind that a conference that takes 15 or 20 minutes under normal circumstances will take longer with an interpreter. Either the content of the conference should be modified to complete it in the time allotted, or the time should be extended.

Ensuring that parents attend the meetings

A few years ago, the district lost over $10,000 in one year as a result of parents failing to attend meetings (IEP's, student hearings, parent-teacher conferences, etc.) for which an interpreter was present and had to be compensated. In order to minimize or even eliminate the number of no shows, we ask the schools to call the parents a day or two before the meeting to remind them of their appointment. If the school finds out that a parent will not attend his/her scheduled meeting, please call the Translation Services office to cancel the request for an interpreter.