WESTFIELD – The group W.A.R.M. (Welcoming and Assisting Refugee Ministry) hosted another community gathering regarding refugees settling in the area on Thursday night at the First Congregational Church in Westfield.
As the event was titled “New Americans in Schools,” Westfield Public Schools was represented. Denise Ruszala, the Director of Assessment and Accountability for the school system, was the guest speaker for the night.
Ruszala’s presentation provided information to those in attendance of the process refugees with children go through when working with the school system.
After giving a brief overview of the statistics in the school district, Ruszala discussed the English Language Learners (ELL) program that is at multiple schools in the district. If there is a refugee that goes into one of the Westfield schools and isn’t fluent in English, or needs more assistance, they would be placed into the ELL program.
According to Ruszala’s graph, the ELL enrollment in Westfield schools for 2017 is 34 refugees thus far.
W.A.R.M. hosted another informational meeting about refugees at the First Congregational Church on Thursday night. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
There is a process undertaken that encompasses state agencies before any refugee students attend Westfield schools. First, case information is sent to the Refugee Processing Center. Then, National Voluntary Agencies meet every week to receive cases and also contact the affiliate agency so they can take the refugee case.
It is a lengthy and arduous process for individuals leaving their homeland. Ruszala explained that all refugees are screened at an Overseas Processing Entity (OPE) then have to pass interviews with immigration officials. If they are approved, medical screenings then follow. The refugees would then complete the process after they get security checks through the Refugee Admission Verification Unit.
The local resettlement agencies in the area like Ascentria, provide a number of basic needs for incoming refugees. The agencies secure housing, greet the families at the airport, provide food and clothes as well as helping enroll the children into public school.
Ruszala wants to make sure that every child in Westfield gets an opportunity to receive a public education.
“It is our belief number one, but it’s a legal requirement,” said Ruszala.
Once a child is enrolled into school, a Home Language Survey is taken by the parent or guardian so the ELL teachers can be aware if the student speaks English, a second language, etc.
Denise Ruszala represented the Westfield Public School District at the event. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
There are also different levels of language classification in the ELL program, going from level one to level six.
Later in her presentation Ruszala went on to talk about the financial support that the ELL gets from the state and federal governments. There is the Local Educational Agency, Title I Grant, Title III Grant, and the Refugee Support Impact Grant. Ruszala says that they use a combination of all four of the options and she also noted that the Refugee Support Impact grant is mostly used to hire tutor translators.
Concluding the presentation, attendees asked Ruszala questions which resulted in a conversation that got to the heart of why the discussion was occurring in the first place.
“We do educate all children and we’ll continue,” said Ruszala. “I think that’s the beauty of public education.”
Alice Flyte, who is a member of W.A.R.M. and helped coordinate the event, sees a real positive outcome for schools that have refugees.
“The kids are learning about other cultures and it’s a great opportunity,” said Flyte.
The next scheduled W.A.R.M. community gathering will be on April 6 at the First Congregational Church in Westfield.
