CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi Independent School District plans to change its bilingual program starting with the 2023-24 school year to consolidate its bilingual teachers into 19 campuses.
This is due to the ongoing shortage and trouble that CCISD has had trying to find and hire bilingual teachers.
"We have 89 classrooms, currently, that are not staffed with a bilingual teacher; that these students are not being served by a bilingual teacher," CCISD Director of Special Programs Zonia Lopez said.
Those 19 CCISD schools that will retain or add bilingual teachers include:
Allen, Berlanga, Calk-Wilson, Cullen Place, Dawson, ECDC, Galvan, Garcia, Gibson, Hicks, Los Encinos, Metro E, Mireles, Moore, Oak Park, Shaw, Smith, Windsor Park, and Zavala.
Teachers' union opposed to the new CCISD bilingual program
Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers President Nancy Vera criticized CCISD's plan.
"We are getting a lot of concerns from teachers who were very concerned about the changes in the bilingual program," she said. "Our concern is the fact that only Spanish speakers are going to be transferred to these different schools to get the services that are required by law."
CCISD said that if a student needs to transfer, the new school won't be more than a few miles from their previous school.
"Campuses are within the vicinity; they're neighborhood campuses," Lopez said.
Lopez acknowledged the shortage of bilingual teachers is very visible in classrooms. She said CCISD's new plan came about because the district was not finding new bilingual teachers and so it studied how other districts were trying to solve this problem.
"Northside in San Antonio, Waco ISD, Humble ISD, Bastrop, Aleif ISD, Austin ISD. Many different models with centralized programs to provide the required bilingual education," Lopez said.
"The entire state of Texas is short on bilingual teachers, but is this a solution?" Vera asked. "They tried it in Deer Creek and failed considerably."
CCISD told 3NEWS it understands that many of the district's students have siblings and it wants to keep families together. Administrators said parents of the students who transfer will be able to tour the new school and speak with teachers and counselors.
CCISD's news release said the move is voluntary and students will not be forced to move, however the email sent home to parents did not explicitly say the move is voluntary.
"I hope there will be better communication," Vera said. "I think better communication to the community, better communication to the Spanish-speaking and all-language populations."