04/10/10 Superintendent of Schools Sidney Freund said the district allocates resources to different groups of students based on the level of need

BOE Member Ponns Cohen: "I object, and will object, to the continued expansion of the BOE into what appears to be a `nanny organization,' with bells and whistles."

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Sidney Freund: "It's not either/or when it comes to providing for kids with special needs. We are not taking anything away from anyone else. We are trying to address the needs of every child."

BOE member: Support for English learners comes at expense of other programs

Colin Gustafson

GREENWICH TIME STAFF WRITER

The school district has done plenty to help students learning English as a second language, but not enough to address the needs of some native English speakers struggling to learn in their first language, a school board member said Friday.

Board of Education member Marianna Ponns Cohen believes the district is allocating heavy resources to English Language Learners at the expense of being able to develop other programs that serve English-speaking students with different learning challenges.

ELL students currently receive a variety of special services including tutoring, home visits and Saturday classes. The schools chief also plans to create a part-time "parent liaison" position to facilitate communication between the district and families that do not speak English as a first language.....

......Public school parent Paige Davis believes the district ELL program has done a better job than its special education counterpart at identifying students' needs, coming up with plans to address them, and measuring their progress.

"The ELL program seems very focused," said Davis, who attended the work session. "There seems to be more strategic planning.".....

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