Public schools in Bartholomew County and the surrounding area have seen a 21% increase in English learner students over the past three school years, continuing a nearly two-decade trend in which that student population has risen more than five-fold in the area.
As of this school year, there were 3,863 English learner students in public schools in Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties, as well as Edinburgh — up from 3,187 during the 2022-2023 school and 741 during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the Indiana Department of Education.
English learner students, also referred to as English language learners (EL), are students whose first language is not English but who are learning English.
The lion’s share of the rise in ELL students was in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and Seymour Community Schools, collectively accounting for 95% of the increase over roughly the past two decades, state records show.
BCSC reported having 1,718 English learner students this school year — roughly 14.9% of enrolled students — up from 1,372 during the 2022-2023 school year and 486 during the 2005-2006 school year — 4.5% of enrollment that year, according to state records.
Seymour Community Schools reported 1,938 English learner students this school year, up from 1,647 during the 2022-2023 school year and 202 during the 2005-2006 school year.
As of last school year, 34.5% of Seymour Community Schools students were English learners, up from 25% just before the COVID-19 pandemic and 5% during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the most recent data available.
Additionally, some local private schools have recently seen varying degrees of increases in ELL students, including St. Bartholomew Catholic School and Columbus Christian School in Columbus, as well as Sandy Creek Christian Academy in Seymour, according to state records.
“For BCSC, it’s not new for us to see an increase,” said BCSC Superintendent Chad Phillips. “…It’s a trend going back to around two decades, so it’s not unusual for us to see an increase in students who are English language learners. The increase in pretty consistent with what we’ve seen in the last decade or so, maybe a slightly larger number in the last two years.”
Officials with Seymour Community Schools — where around 1 in 3 students this past school year were English language learners — did not respond to questions on how the increase in that student population has impacted the school corporation.
BCSC: ‘More than 60 languages’
Phillips said BCSC students come from all over the world and that the recent increase in that student population spans all grade levels in the school corporation.
BCSC students speak a collective 65 languages from at least five continents, according to school corporation records. The most common language spoken by students at BCSC — besides English — is Spanish, though six of the 10 most spoken foreign languages are South, East or Southeast Asian languages.
“The students who are enrolling in BCSC that are either learning the English language, or the primary language spoken in the home is not English, come from all over the world,” Phillips said. “…We have over 60 languages spoken in BCSC. And our students who arrive here have a wide range of skills and abilities.”
At BCSC, standalone English classes for ELL students are currently only offered at the high school level and are mainly for students who are just starting to learn the language, Phillips said.
At the elementary and middle school levels, ELL students are classes along with native English-speaking students, but the school corporation has “English language learner teachers who go from class to class, work with individual students and teachers, helping students with the content area.”
State records indicate that the level of proficiency in English among ELL students at BCSC is evenly distributed, with about half in the lower tier and half in the upper tier.
Currently, BCSC employs 24 EL staff members, though some are “partials,” meaning they may teach some sections of another subject and then spend the rest of their time helping support English language learners.
“It does require some resources to educate students who are still learning the English language, and we do receive both state and federal funding to support those students,” Phillips said. “For the most part, the supports that we’ve put in place are teachers for EL students. …We also try to help support regular classroom teachers in their skillsets around how they help English language learners.”
Currently, it is unclear how many different languages are spoken by students at Seymour Community Schools, though the school corporation’s website is available in 21 languages.
A significant number of English learner students in Seymour likely are Guatemalan, as 509 migrant children, mostly from the Central American country, were sent to live with sponsors in Seymour from January 2015 to May 2023, according to federal records.
Many of the Guatemalans in Seymour are of the Chuj indigenous group and speak the Chuj language.
About 66% of ELL students at Seymour Community Schools have lower levels of proficiency in English, according to state records.
Fastest growing population
The increase in local ELL students largely mirrors national and state trends and coincides with U.S. Census Bureau estimates showing that population growth in Bartholomew County has been largely driven by international migration since the pandemic struck, primarily from Asia.
Nationally, ELL students are the fastest-growing student population in public schools, according to the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition.
In fall 2021, there were more than 5.3 million English learner students enrolled in public K-12 schools across the country, representing around 11% of total student enrollment, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
The percentage of ELL enrollment among states that year ranged from 20% in Texas to 0.8% in West Virginia, with Indiana coming in at 7%, 30th highest in the country.
Statewide, the number of English learner students has risen 22% over the past three school years, increasing from 83,855 during the 2022-2023 school year to 103,024 this school year, according to records with the Indiana Department of Education. About 93% of ELL students in Indiana this school year are enrolled in public schools.
“(Since) the last time I was here, we went up about 20,000 English learner students in Indiana,” Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner recently said during a recent presentation before the Indiana General Assembly. “This is probably the most significant growth we’ve seen in any of our student population points.”
Jenner said the highest English learner growth was concentrated in the cities of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Elkhart, Goshen, Seymour, Columbus and Logansport, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
The demand for English learner educators is so high in Indiana that they are the second biggest teacher need in the state, Jenner said.
Locally, Phillips said, like any teaching position, it has been challenging to find highly qualified English language learner teachers over the past several years as that student population has continued to grow.
“English language learners come from all kinds of backgrounds and have all kinds of strengths and challenges,” Phillips said. “Those students present a unique challenge, but certainly, (these students) are no exception to the rule that every kid is different when they walk into our building.”