The Seattle School Board has the highest commitment toward ensuring an equal educational opportunity for every student. While English is the basic language of instruction in the district’s schools, the district will provide a Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program for children whose primary language is not English, and whose English skills are at the level that they limit learning. The district’s Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program is designed to enable students to achieve competency in English.

The district and its staff shall:

1. Communicate with parents/family members of students who are English language learners in a language they can understand in accordance with Board Policy No. 4218, Language Access;
2. Assess and determine, by means of a state approved placement test, student eligibility within 10 days of enrollment and attendance;
3. Annually assess, by means of the state approved test, improvement in English language proficiency for each eligible English language learner;
4. Provide professional development training for administrators, teachers, counselors and other staff on the district’s bilingual instruction program, appropriate use of instructional strategies and assessment results, and curriculum and instructional materials for use with culturally and linguistically diverse students; and
5. E. Provide for continuous improvement and evaluation of the district’s Program to determine its effectiveness.

For purposes of providing such services, the Superintendent is authorized to establish procedures for implementing the district’s Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program.

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Superintendent Procedure

• 2110SP – Multilingual Department

Policy Cross References

• 3210 – Nondiscrimination
• 4129 – Family Engagement
• 4218 – Language Access

Previous Policies

• C47.00
• D32.00

Legal References

• RCW 28A.180 Transitional Bilingual Instructional Program
• WAC 162-28-040 English language limitations and national origin discrimination
• WAC 392-160 Special Service Program—Transitional Bilingual

Management Resources

• WSSDA Policy & Legal News, June 2022

Revisions

• January 2023 (Per Policy No. 1310)

Adopted

• December 7, 2011