Following a cut of dual immersion Spanish-English program in the Oregon towns of Wilsonville and West Linn in 2009 due to budget restraints, the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board voted to reinstate the program.
The news was reported by the West Linn Tidings and stated that the district has capital bond money from 2008 that can be used to pay for new books, new curriuculum, and costs of program development.
“Looking at the same reasons I looked at suspending… most, if not all, are mitigated. We can’t sit back and say because we don’t have any money we can’t do anything. That doesn’t mean we have to stop trying to do things better with what we do have,” said Board Vice Chairman Keith Steele in the original article.
The recommendation for the program came from the Language Task Force that believed the program was sustainable. The program will begin with Spanish immersion at the Kindergarten level and a grade level, up to fifth grade, will be added each year. At Trillium Creek Elementary School, native English-speaking students will be taught Spanish. At Lowrie Primary school, a 50-50 model will be utilized so that students with Spanish as a native language can learn English as well.
To read more about the dual immersion issue in the West Linn Tidings, click here.
