▲ Longview ISD partnered with a local Spanish radio station to create an informative program for Spanish-speaking families.
LONGVIEW ISD Longview ISD
Lobo Live keeps Spanish-speaking families informed
County: Gregg
by James Golsan
2020 enrollment: 8,561
I
t’s a complicated, challenging time for public education in America. As schools, districts and education professionals are finding their feet after a global pandemic that forced a fundamental reimagining of how education is delivered, they now find themselves at the center of hot-button political controversies such as mask mandates and a debate over diversity, equity and inclusion programs. With so many districts impacted by the tension around these issues, clear communication between school officials and their community has never been more important. In Texas, no one’s doing that better than Longview ISD and their innovative Lobo Live radio program. Like many districts in Texas, Hispanic students comprise the largest share of Longview ISD’s
ESC region: 7 Superintendent: Dr. James Wilcox Number of schools: 14
student body. That means there’s a heavy concentration of Spanish-speaking parents, some of whom speak limited or almost no English. Reaching that population was the challenge Francisco Rojas, Longview ISD’s public information officer, and his community outreach team were tasked with solving. “Our Hispanic student population is nearly 45% [of the total student body]. That means that a majority of those parents are Spanish speakers, and we wanted to come up with a way to communicate with them, and we wanted to do it in a unique way, not just sending letters or emails.” The search for a creative approach to reaching parents led to the genesis of Lobo Live. BRAGGING RIGHTS 2021-2022 Texas School Business
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