MIDLAND, Texas — Lety Amalla, MISD's Executive Director of English Learning, said that non-English speaking families have had a more difficult time registering and enrolling in class.
She wants to help solve that problem, which is why MISD is holding in-person registration events from August 25 - August 28.
Amalla and the district decided to do this because she noticed that the number of students registered for bilingual classes are lower than usual.
"Some of our numbers in the bilingual and ESL classes are lower than we typically get at this time of the year, and so we want to ensure that families have every opportunity to register their students into getting back to learning," Amalla said.
Amalla said that the lack of registered students from non-English speaking families could be low for several reasons, including a lack of accessible technology to register.
"Many of our families use their phone to do just about everything, but when you’re registering your student and having to upload documents and such, it’s a little bit more difficult than just day-to-day things that you can do on your phone," Amalla said.
Along with the in-person registration, MISD will be able to provide these families with the resources they need for their students to continue to learn.
"We will take that same opportunity to expose them on how to access the website, and we will also take this opportunity to provide them with the necessary technology if that’s one of the reasons they haven’t registered," Amalla said.
According to Amalla, the lack of non-English speaking students enrolled is the biggest issue her department is facing right now.
"This is the most pressing issue that we have in terms of my department. We want to ensure that everyone has access to what they need to be able to register and so for right now, that’s what our focus will be," Amalla said.
The four locations for registration
- August 25, South Elementary from 2 to 4 p.m.
- August 26, Burnet Elementary from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- August 27, Long Elementary from 2 to 4 p.m.
- August 28, DZ Elementary from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Families will need to bring a copy of their student's birth certificate, proof of residency, immunization records, social security card, and the parent's ID.