OBSERVER Photo by Anthony Dolce Members of the Fredonia School Board, shown above, approved the creation of a Hispanic Outreach Coordinator position at Fredonia High School.

Over the course of the last several years, the Fredonia Central School District has seen a rapid increase in the number of students and families who primarily speak Spanish. This has begun to cause more issues within the district, as administrators noticed their ability to effectively communicate with these students and families was made more difficult.

To help alleviate this issue, the Fredonia school board approved the creation of a new, full-time position, known as the Hispanic outreach coordinator.

“We have about 200 students in the district that are in some way shape or form connected to those with Hispanic heritage,” said Fredonia Superintendent Dr. Bradley Zilliox. “Not all of those students require translating or any type of assistance with English, but many of them do, or their family members do.”

Zilliox said this position has been in the works since the end of the last school year and into the summer, with the thought in mind of offering these families direct support. Zilliox said they studied the models put in place by other schools on how they adapt to this issue, and particularly looked at what Dunkirk High School and Jamestown do.

“We want to be helpful to them in understanding what’s happening at the school and our expectations at the school,” Zilliox said. “There’s a variety of applications where we could use a point person who could head up and assist families on a number of levels, communicating with the school district.”

Officially, whoever is hired as the school’s Hispanic outreach coordinator would be responsible for serving as a link between the school and Hispanic families, making and keeping records related to that outreach, assisting families when it comes to matters of discipline, health, and other needs, among many other things.

“In some ways it’s a bit of an early experiment,” said Zilliox. “We believe there is more than enough work to justify the request as it stands now but we will see what it brings. There’s always room to adjust and adapt.”

The growth in Spanish-speaking students is something board President Brian Aldrich has seen firsthand, both in his time in school and since he has left. Because he’s seen the districts increase, he knows that this position will only get more valuable over time.

“When I went through school, I can’t remember any Hispanic families in this district,” Aldrich said. “Going from a district having no Hispanic students to now having over 200, this is a trend, it’s not a blip. It’s going to continue on in this direction, so we have to adapt.”