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By Pacific Citizen Staff
Published July 3, 2009
Lori Phanachone is no longer an English Language Learner, according to the Storm Lake School District, which has reclassified the Laotian American student as English proficient and created a comprehensive new ELL policy.
The policy change is seemingly the end of the controversy involving the Iowa high school and Phanachone, an honor student who in February protested the school's classification by boycotting a yearly ELL test. She received a three-day suspension and had her National Honor Society membership and extracurricular privileges revoked.
On June 26, Phanachone and Storm Lake officials signed a memorandum of understanding.
"I'm glad my taking a stand has led Storm Lake to improve its ELL classification policy," said Phanachone in a statement. "Now, other students who were misclassified under the old policy will have a chance to be reclassified as English proficient."
Storm Lake will retroactively apply the new policy, which sets forth clear steps for identification and classification of ELL students. About 1,000 ELLs are currently enrolled in Storm Lake public schools.
"We believe it is a role model policy that can be followed across the state," Dr. Paul Tedesco, Storm Lake superintendent, told KMEG 14.
The school district worked with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commission on the Status of Iowans of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage.
In March, Storm Lake drew criticism from community groups for wrongly classifying Phanachone, 18, as an ELL. Phanachone was born in California to immigrant parents. She has a near perfect grade point average and has excelled academically in all subjects including English.
JACL issued a statement criticizing Storm Lake's actions against Phanachone.
"While language is critical for communication, it is also a reflection of culture," said Floyd Mori, JACL national director. "Lori Phanachone is to be commended for the high value she places on her cultural heritage and also for her persistence in motivating the district to reevaluate their discriminatory policy. Courage has many faces and Lori has exemplified the kind of courage that brings pride to the Asian American community."
With the help of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), Storm Lake agreed to reclassify Phanachone as English proficient, lift all disciplinary consequences from her record, and restore her National Honors Society membership.
"We are heartened by Storm Lake's willingness to improve its ELL classification policy. Moving forward, we will monitor how Storm Lake applies this new policy to current students who — like Lori Phanachone — may have been misclassified as ELLs," said Khin Mai Aung, the AALDEF staff attorney representing Phanachone.
On the Web:
www.jacl.org
www.aaldef.org
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