WASHINGTON (Map, News) - More than 1,000 people are expected to attend a Dual Language Parent Summit on Saturday where parents will have the opportunity to learn about the Prince George’s County Public Schools in both English and Spanish.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to bring the community together around education and to remove some of those language barriers that occur in a diverse population like ours,” schools spokesman John White said.

School board member Rosalind Johnson said the summit developed from a May meeting she had with Jorge Ribas, president and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Chamber of Commerce. Ribas told her that Hispanic parents were having difficultly understanding what was going on in the schools and navigating the system.

“It’s not easy for someone to come from a third-world country to a highly technological and complex society such as the United States,” Ribas said

Johnson said there will be workshops in English and Spanish on “every dynamic” of the schools at the summit, from the PTA and special education to how to help children with homework.

“‘Educationeese’ is a foreign language and if you don’t work in the school system, you don’t understand the language,” said Johnson, who added that “it’s doubly difficult if you don’t speak English.”

White said the school system has a variety of support systems in place for parents and students who don’t speak English. The system has parent liaisons in every school, and they are bilingual in schools with large Hispanic populations.

In addition, White said there is an International Student Guidance Office, where parents go before they register their children and can speak to someone in their own language. There are also ESOL classes and a special program for students who enter Prince George’s schools from other countries. And the system is increasingly sending out information in English and Spanish.

A report completed last fall based on data from specifically targeted schools in Prince George’s with high Hispanic populations said the language barrier keeps some parents from being involved in their children’s education.

dfowler@dcexaminer.com