Latino students to learn job skills in new program

Pilot will begin at Wheaton, Edison high schools in the fall

‘‘We want to give them the best education possible, a meaningful experience that gives them the skills,” Woodson said.

The pilot program — called Students Engaged in Pathways to Achievement — would receive roughly $175,000 in the schools’ $1.97 billion budget request. About 15 students would be tested in the pilot this fall at Wheaton High School and Thomas Edison High School of Technology, which both have a high number of Latino students.

The program is still in its beginning stages, but the curriculum would include cosmetology, landscaping, construction, hospitality and culinary arts, said Michael Cohen, the school system’s director of instructional programs. ‘‘We’re just starting to put recommendations together,” he said. ‘‘We’re right at the beginning of it. We really felt the need to build a program to address their unique needs. The focus will be on students who have not had a school experience.”

Many of the immigrants come to the county from Latin and Central America, said Candace Kattar, executive director of Identity Inc., a Gaithersburg nonprofit that works with Latino youth and families.

‘‘They have not spent their youth being socialized in the classroom,” Kattar said. ‘‘It’s difficult to adjust to a school system where they sit quietly in a chair, listening to an instructor.”

Kattar said it is also tough for immigrants to leave family behind in their countries. ‘‘It’s a small step, but it’s an important step that the school system is taking,” she said.

School board President Nancy Navarro (Dist. 5) of Silver Spring said the board has always been concerned about the progress of Latino students. The pilot is not only for Latinos, but would also address the needs of African immigrants, of which the county has seen an influx, Navarro said.

In summer of 2005, the county’s Latino Education Coalition began looking at why Latino students were not graduating. The group issued a report to the school board in March 2006, outlining a need to educate Latinos who come to county schools with limited educational experience. The report also identified the lack of involvement in schools by Latino parents and the need to strengthen the cultural competence of the school system.

‘‘Too many of these young people, especially those entering at the high school level, are falling through the cracks of the school system, dropping out of school or otherwise failing,” the report said.

After the coalition presented the concerns, Deputy Superintendent Frieda K. Lacey created a task force to recommend ways to help Latino students. The task force’s report, presented in November, outlined the need to develop the pilot program.

Cohen, a member of the task force, said he was just ‘‘a little concerned” that the program would be cut from County Executive Isiah Leggett’s proposed $4.1 billion budget, which includes a $20 million cut in the school system’s request.

Cohen said he hopes the program will be extended to more high schools, depending on the pilot’s success this fall.

On Monday

The county school board will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the Carver Educational Services Center at 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville. Call 301-279-3853.