U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division

Seattle Public Schools (SPS)

Language Access for Families

Family members have a right to receive important information from schools in a language they can understand. School Districts must provide interpretation and/or translation services, when needed, to communicate with multilingual families.

Read more about the Rights of Multilingual families and obligations of school districts: Information for Limited English Proficient (LEP) Parents and Guardians and for Schools and School Districts that Communicate with Them

SPS Policy No. 4218 Language Access ensures the rights of parents/guardians to access information about the education of their child in a language that they can understand.

Seattle Public Schools provides translation and interpretation services to all families, free of charge, in our top languages: Amharic, Chinese, Spanish, Somali, and Vietnamese. For other languages, the district contracts with Linguistica & Lionbridge to provide “over the phone” interpretation.

Families should contact their student’s school for interpretation supports.

SPS District Contact
Haile Wubneh, Language Access Coordinator
languages@seattleschools.org
206-743-3549

Interpretation and Translation Services

Under state and federal law, all parents have the right to information about their child's education in a language they can understand. This information sheet outlines parents' rights to meaningful communication about their child's education:

Parents' Rights Information Sheet: Interpretation and Translation Services
Amharic | Arabic | Cambodian | Chinese | French | Hindi | Japanese | Korean | Marshallese | Punjabi | Romanian | Russian | Samoan | Somali | Spanish | Tagalog | Telugu | Tigrinya | Ukrainian | Urdu | Vietnamese

Right to Language Access

You are an important part of your child's education! Your child's school should communicate with you, in your language, about your child's education. This often includes translated documents and a language interpreter for meetings and conversations. You have the right to these services even if you speak some English and even if your child can speak or read in English.

Meetings & Conversations

When you talk with teachers or school employees, the school should offer an interpreter if you need one. This includes parent-teacher conferences, meetings about special education, or any other conversations about your child's education.

The school should only use competent interpreters who are fluent in English and in your language. The school should make sure interpreters understand any terms or concepts that will be used during the meeting. The school should not use students or children as interpreters.

The interpreter should be neutral and should communicate everything said during the conversation. They should not omit or add to what anyone says. The school should make sure interpreters understand their role and the need to keep information confidential.

Written Information

The school should translate important written information into the most common languages spoken in your school district. If you receive information that is not in your language, please let the school know if you would like it translated in writing or explained orally to you in your language.