News Summary

HAMILTON — Sixth-grader Roberto sits with his English tutor in a closet-sized space filled with colorful books and stacks of flashcards.

Roberto, like some of his peers at Van Buren Elementary School in Hamilton, leaves class daily to learn basic English with a tutor.

He is one of about 8,000 immigrants of Hispanic or Latino origin who reside in Butler County. The group is one of the largest growing minorities here. At Van Buren, nearly 90 of the 425 students are Hispanic or Latino.

Public schools across the county are employing English as a Second Language tutors to help students like Roberto, who enroll with limited English skills. Their ability to speak, read and write English may not be at their grade level.

The ESL program, which serves 498 students in the Hamilton School District, costs the school district $650,000 a year, with $410,000 of that coming from its general fund.

Data consistently shows a wide gap in educational achievement between students whose first language is Spanish and those whose first language is English, resulting in higher dropout rates and lower academic performance levels for the ESL students.

"As the Hispanic students get older, they get more frustrated when they cannot grasp a certain subject, and then are less likely to graduate or go on to higher education," said Megan K. Taylor Kuykendol, Latino Community Coordinator at Miami University.

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