By Rob Sample
Should the Carmel School Board come up with a way to translate dialogue at its public forums for families who speak a different language at home?
The board tackled this subject during its Dec. 17 meeting, agreeing to pilot two translation methods for attendees.
The first, a pocket-sized device called Pocket Talk, will debut at the next meeting. The district already owns these devices for classroom use.
The board also plans to use a presentation captioning and translation program during subsequent meetings.
The board limited its initial foray into language translation to Spanish, since district surveys have shown that Spanish is the primary language for 16 percent of households in Carmel. Smaller numbers speak Polish, Ukrainian, and other languages at home.
“The very interesting thing about (Pocket Talk) is if you’re looking at Spanish, there are options,” said Carmel School Board President Melissa Orser. “There are Argentinian, Spanish, Colombian, Mexican, and others, and even the many different dialects in all of those countries.”
Board members were given Pocket Talk units and instructed on how the device works. Orser noted that, optimally, the user needs to hold the device close to his or her face.
At meetings, a person speaking at the podium could be equipped with a Pocket Talk device. Board members could use theirs to reply, and their words would be translated to the guest’s language, thus creating a back-and-forth conversation.
Orser noted that the board also needs to utilize a way to translate material on screen for people who are in the audience or watching at home via a remote link.
“This translation in real time is an option,” said Trustee Jordi Douglas. “I see teachers use this in the district that I’m employed with. It’s a banner that runs right across the top of the screen. It’s part of PowerPoint, it translates in real time, and it translates great.”
Lauren Santabarbara, the district’s interim assistant superintendent for instruction and personnel, outlined how PowerPoint Live is used in the classroom to facilitate communication between teachers and bilingual students.
“It’s a fantastic program,” she said. “We have students who are from all different places and speak all different languages. And when it is utilized by the teacher, the teacher’s PowerPoint is in English. And then it translates in real time to that student’s preferred language on their laptop. They can then type back and speak to the teacher in their native language, and it translates back to English to the teacher in real time. And it just runs. It’s a free program that we have in the district.”
On past occasions, a translator in the audience was available at times for people who required assistance comprehending the proceedings. Trustee James Wise pressed fellow board members to make this service a permanent feature – which would have a $5,500 yearly price tag.
“That strikes me as an easy win,” said Wise.
“That cost was for Spanish translators only,” noted Trustee Jason Paraskeva. “What about the 16 other different languages that families speak?”
Wise noted that Spanish-speaking families by far represent the biggest cohort in the district, and that focusing on them first would bring about the greatest increase in participation and inclusion.
“The low-hanging fruit here is we can move from 81 percent to 97 percent of the district able to participate in these meetings by adding the single largest language spoken,” said Wise. “I strongly agree: It would be wonderful to see what we can do for the remaining 3 percent, but there are over five times as many speakers of Spanish at home in this district as all the other languages combined.”
Orser countered that having an in-person translator would not be in real time. Moreover, such a translation would likely involve paraphrasing, rather than word-for-word translation.
The board agreed to stick with using technology as a first step, testing Pocket Talk translation devices at its next meeting that involves a public forum, scheduled Tuesday, Jan. 21. The use of PowerPoint Live – or another translation/captioning program identified by the board – will be piloted at a subsequent meeting.
“I think this is a wonderful step forward,” said Trustee John Curzio. “The district already possesses these devices, so it’s minimal to no cost to the district. It achieves the goal that the board is setting out to achieve: to provide translation services to those attending meetings who wish to participate but may not speak English or be fluent in the English language.”
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