Duarte : Testing Center Considered

The Board of Education tonight will consider creating an assessment center to centralize testing of bilingual students.

“We’re just trying to be more efficient, more effective,” said Deputy Supt. Marcia McVey. Thirty-seven languages are represented among more than 800 students whose first language is not English or who speak another language at home.

Each of the district’s eight schools has been conducting placement evaluations on their campuses. But the increased numbers of bilingual students enrolling is putting a strain on individual schools, McVey said.

The proposed center, which could open this fall, would be located in the school district office complex on Huntington Drive. Annual operating costs would run about $20,000, McVey said.