Dozens of teachers and staff members rallied in support of Nahed Chapman New American Academy in St. Louis Public Schools during a school board meeting on Tuesday after Superintendent Millicent Borishade announced major changes to the program.
The Board of Education voted to approve the changes to the program 4-3, with Emily Hubbard voting no and President Toni Cousins and Natalie Vowell absent.
One of the biggest changes would scale back the program at Nahed Chapman, which serves students who have recently arrived in the U.S. from other countries, from two years to one year for elementary and middle school students.
The decision was made before the public comment portion of the meeting, where NCNAA staffers raised questions about how students would be impacted and described the critical needs of their students — all of whom are immigrants and refugees who have come to the U.S. in the past two years with low English proficiency.
Rick Tritten, a teacher at the NCNAA K-5 program, also took to the podium to share a statement of support with the board.
“ESOL [English for Speakers of Other Languages] students have an incredibly diverse range of needs to be met to ensure academic success,” Tritten said. "Because of this, we feel that our students’ academic success is being put at risk because of a lack of a clear plan.”
Molly Hinders, who also teaches in the NCNAA K-5 program, said that she often works with students who may have little to no education, let alone proficiency in English.
“For some, the first day of school ever is the first day of school with us,” Hinders said.
Marissa Moore, assistant principal at the NCNAA program at Roosevelt High School, pushed back on some of the data presented last week and again during Tuesday evening’s meeting.
“Before taking action that will significantly impact some of our most vulnerable students, it is essential to ensure that all available data has been fully considered,” Moore said. “I know that all of us here want what’s best for our stakeholders, and I know we can be partners in this work that is designed to serve immigrant and refugee students.”
Staff members presented a petition that Moore created Monday that garnered more than 600 signatures by the time of the meeting.
The petition calls for the district to delay implementing the proposed program changes to incorporate more NCNAA staff feedback and to provide enough time for the transition.
Borishade clapped after some of the staffers spoke.
“I do look forward to working with each and every one of you all as we do what’s best for children, so you will be hearing from us,” Borishade said.
Vice President Matt Davis responded by thanking the staffers for speaking out and saying he understood why they felt the need to defend their work.
“I 100% understand why when we, at St. Louis Public Schools, announce any changes there is not a lot of trust that’s going to be implemented with fidelity,” Davis said. “But I certainly trust Dr. Borishade and her vision that this is going to be done that way.”
A shortened program
The district will restructure NCNAA by reducing the program from two years to one year for elementary and middle school students. The older students will be absorbed into Roosevelt as opposed to having a standalone program at the school.
The changes will be implemented in the 2025-26 school year.
The program serves over 900 students who have arrived in the United States in the past two years and have low English proficiency. It is spread out across three separate schools: Roosevelt High School, AESM Middle School and a stand-alone K-5 elementary school.
The program, which has been around since 2009, has lasted for two years for each student, but students can test out after a year if they meet an adequate level of English proficiency. The students are then placed at another district school where they continue to receive ESOL services.
District officials said the reason for the changes included data that showed that students enrolled in the NCNAA program were testing lower than students in English Language Learner programs at other district schools.
The district also cited a 2015 "Dear Colleague" joint letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education and the Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice. The letter provides guidance on how schools should navigate providing adequate resources to ELL students.
SLPS leadership cited one particular clause in the letter that addresses the segregation of ELL students from the general population at schools.
“EL programs may not unjustifiably segregate students on the basis of national origin or EL status While EL programs may require that EL students receive separate instruction for a limited period of time, the Departments expect school districts and SEAs to carry out their chosen program in the least segregative manner consistent with achieving the program’s stated educational goals,” the letter states.
SLPS leaders argue that ELL students should have access to more shared classroom time and extracurricular activities with students who are fluent in English to help bolster their language skills.
St. Louis Public Radio spoke with a half-dozen NCNAA staffers who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from the district.
In interviews, multiple NCNAA staffers said that the newcomer students do interact with other students, for example, during bus rides to and from school or extracurricular activities at Roosevelt High School.
Some staffers also raised concerns about making a change to a program that primarily serves an immigrant and refugee population during a climate of heightened scrutiny of those communities.
“Our students are aware of how quickly our government's attitudes towards immigrants and refugees have changed,” one staffer said. “Many are scared of being deported or that their relatives will be, and that's enough stress on a community without having to add on, we're going to totally dismantle and restructure your schooling.”
SLPS has stated that it will protect all students regardless of immigration status.
However, when pressed about the timing of these changes, Borishade said the district had a responsibility to support students regardless of timing.
“Help me understand what timing has to do with this,” Borishade said. “We have to do right by students when we find out we’re not doing right for students. Whether it’s 2015, 2020, 2024 … we have to do right by students.”
