Commentary: Lancaster schools adapt to meet needs of refugees

By Harvey Miller

and Damaris Rau

The School District of Lancaster is proudly and effectively serving and educating one of the largest per capita refugee student populations in Pennsylvania. Yet, despite our many programs to help these students and their families, we currently find ourselves the target of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims our educational decisions are somehow discriminatory.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Last school year, nearly 600 refugee students were enrolled in our district at all grade levels. The lawsuit centers on fewer than 20 of those students, young adults from 17 to 21 who would stand little chance of graduating by their 21st birthday if they attended the district's main high school.

In order to give them - and any overage and under-credited student in the district - a better opportunity to graduate they attend a smaller alternative school called Phoenix Academy, which has smaller class sizes and more personalized instruction. Phoenix Academy also has certified English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers to ensure foreign language-speaking students learn English.

The value of a high school diploma cannot be overstated. It gives these students a shot at progressing and building lives for themselves in their new country. It places them on a path to post-secondary education, or to jobs that require a diploma as an educational minimum. This is the same opportunity we provide at Phoenix Academy to all 17- to 21 year-old under-credited students. We would be neglecting our responsibility if we did not offer this alternative pathway for students to graduate.

The great majority of 17- to 21-year-old refugee students attend the larger McCaskey High School. These students attained higher education levels in their home countries and so the larger school is more appropriate for them. The decisions about where to place students are made by educational experts in the best interest of the students.

The ACLU's claims are especially implausible to us because of how strongly we want these new students and their families to succeed, and the actions that we've taken to ensure that happens.

The district's Reynolds Refugee Center and Community School, a collaboration of Rotary International, United Way, and Intermediate Unit 13, includes a health clinic, parent programming, and cultural navigators to support families. Based on the community school model, the health offerings are open to the entire community. By housing the center in a school, we are able to help our refugee community gain easy access to healthcare providers.

Parents of these students regularly attend the center's special Parent Academy, which is tailored to English-language learners. The center also provides programs specific to the students themselves, such as translation services, afterschool support, technology assistance, and summer programming. For the youngest non-English speakers, we have an English as a Second Language summer kindergarten program to acclimate the new students to their school environment. We also have programs for elementary and middle school English language learners, all free of charge to students and their families. These programs require significant support from district funds, investments that few other districts make.

In summer, we also operate a six-week program at Phoenix Academy exclusively for older refugee students to gain more high school credits. In fact, one of the plaintiffs in the ACLU case finished his diploma there this past summer with plans to study biology in college.

The true tragedy of this case is that the ACLU's concerns could have been resolved without a costly legal fight. The district had been working with resettlement organizations on refining the practices and procedures to both our International School and Phoenix Academy programs when, without warning, we were served with this lawsuit. Neither of these programs is mandated by state law, yet the district created them as an extra step in more effectively serving populations that require these unique curricula. We are very proud of these forward-thinking efforts that the ACLU now wants to disrupt.

Our district consistently stands on the front lines of social justice - to develop, deliver, and refine programs for one of the state's most diverse student populations. This year we expect to serve more than 750 children from refugee families. Our severely underfunded school district welcomes and supports them.

Harvey Miller is president of the School District of Lancaster Board. schoolboard@lancaster.k12.pa.us

Damaris Rau is the district superintendent. damarisrau@lancaster.k12.pa.us