The U.S. Department of Justice contacted Oswego school officials earlier this summer expressing concerns with information the district provided about its dual language program.

While stressing that they had not determined that Community Unit School District 308 violated federal law, representatives from the department’s educational opportunities section said “it is not clear that the school district has made information regarding the program available to all parents of (English-learners) in the district, particularly Limited English Proficient families, in a manner they can access and understand with sufficient notice to apply for this educational opportunity,” according to emails recently obtained from the school district.

As a result, the district took steps that included extending the program application deadline, said Judy Minor, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.

“We just wanted to provide clarity for our (English-learner) parents to make an informed decision about the placement for their students,” she said.

The Department of Justice declined to comment.

District 308 offers a variety of programs for English learning students, but the dual language program is the only one that required an application, officials have said.

[…] She said potential applicants were required to have Internet access to view in any other language announcements and the dual language application. Applicants had to use “an automated web-based translation service that produces translations of a poor quality and alters the formatting,” she wrote, according to the emails provided by the district. More.

See: Chicago Tribune

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