Diversity increases in the student population

The face of Chesterfield County schools is changing.

Twenty years ago, the white student population was 84 percent. It stands at 62 percent now. Of about 59,000 students, 27.4 percent are black, 7.1 percent Hispanic and 3.3 percent Asian, according to school system figures. The number of English as a second language students grew from 1,439 five years ago to 2,105 last year.

Students in poverty grew 6 percentage points to 26.4 percent in the past five years.

"We can see that the face of Chesterfield is very different from what it once was," said Dianne Pettitt, School Board chairwoman, to a group of school employees and community members gathered to discuss ways to educate a diverse student population.

"And also we're facing new accountability standards," she continued. "We work in a time where schools are held accountable for results in ways they never were before."

Pettitt was referring to the federal No Child Left Behind law, which aims for all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014.

The school system has begun work with those accountability demands in mind, Pettitt said.

Last year, the board adopted a strategic plan called Design For Excellence to address the growing diversity in schools, she said.

"Once our students graduate, they're likely to work with someone in India, just as much as they might work with somebody in Indiana," she said. "It's important for them to successfully communicate and build relationships with people of different backgrounds and skill sets."

The school system is planning to provide cultural competency training for staff members during this school year.

J. Otis Smith, a multicultural consultant with Stand By Systems II Inc., who moderated the discussion last week, will be making presentations in four quarterly school leadership meetings during the school year.

Michael Courtney, principal of Ettrick Elementary School, said that he has observed that people segregate on their own by race and economics. His school's student population is 85 percent black. "That's something that has to change because students emulate what their parents do," he said.

Chesterfield teachers of English as a second language receive training from the Washington-based Center for Applied Linguistics and through Virginia Commonwealth University.

Marta Santacoloma, who taught in Chesterfield schools for six years and has two children in the schools, said she believes teachers of English as a second language should speak Spanish, because most of those students are Spanish-speaking. Some students who enter middle school and high school without speaking English get frustrated and drop out when they can't communicate with teachers, she said.

"If teachers spoke Spanish, it would be easier for children to assimilate their language with the new language," she said.

Imad Damaj, who has two children in Chesterfield schools, said bringing in a consultant and training teachers in cultural diversity is a good first step. "But we have to reach these communities, involve them and get them deep in the culture of making people feel welcome."
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or .