FCPS seeking English-language interpreters for students

Jillian Atelsek, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

Dec. 30—Frederick County Public Schools is seeking English language interpreters to work as independent contractors.

The district has seen consistent growth in its number of English learners in recent years, Keith Harris, FCPS' executive director of accelerating achievement and equity, wrote in an email.

"Given the growth in our EL population, we are seeking as many interpreters as we can get," Harris wrote. "There is not a defined number."

Though Spanish is the most commonly spoken language in the district behind English, the district needs interpreters who speak a variety of other languages as well, Harris wrote. Students in FCPS speak about 80 different languages, he wrote.

The district lost interpreters during the pandemic because "we were not using them," Harris wrote.

The interpreters work on an as-needed basis, and decide whether they accept individual jobs as the need arises. The district is aiming to recruit a "pool of interpreters to use" when students need their services, Harris wrote.

Applicants should be familiar with Google Meets so they can help with virtual assignments, according to a countywide FindOutFirst email sent last week. Training will be provided, the email said.

As of the beginning of this school year, 3,445 students in FCPS were designated as "English learners." That's about 7.3% of the district's overall population.

That figure has climbed almost every year since 2014, the earliest year for which data is available on FCPS' website. That year, just over 2,000 students were English learners, or 5% of the district's overall population.

Statewide, Spanish is by far the most common language spoken by English learners, according to a report earlier this year from the Maryland State Department of Education. More than 79,000 English learners in the state speak Spanish, while only 1,352 speak French, the second-most common spoken language.

Arabic was the third most common, with 1,154 speakers, followed by Chinese with 1,086 speakers and Urdu — a language spoken in Pakistan and parts of India — with 902 speakers.

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