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Tukwila Schools take on hundreds of new students from asylum-seeking families

Student aid is linked to enrollment, but hundreds of new students in Tukwila arrived after budgets were set. An elementary school shares its approach with KING 5.

TUKWILA, Wash — During the current school year - the Tukwila School District has been serving more students without any additional resources

The district recently took on 288 students - and counting - because of asylum-seeking families arriving in South King County. 

School districts get state funding from enrollment numbers, but these new students from migrant and asylum-seeking families arrived after the budgets were already set.

The district has more than 3,100 students enrolled across five schools. Adding nearly 300 new students means the district saw a 10 percent increase which is a stark difference, year to year.

"Our [school's] enrollment jumped about 100 students," said Dr. Tenesha Fremstad, Cascade View Elementary principal. "Every now and again, we get a few. You might get 10 over a couple months, but that hundred came pretty quickly."

In some Cascade View Elementary classrooms - there are as many as nine languages spoken by students who are also now learning and speaking English.

Serving multi-lingual students is not new for Tukwila as more than 70% of Cascade View Elementary students already speak more than one language. However, the new wave of students introduced new cultures and languages into the district.

The district said its newest students are from several countries including Angola, Venezuela, and Haiti. 

Tukwila school leaders said there are challenges, but their focus remains on each child having a positive experience.

"Our staff have been flexible," Dr. Fremstad said. "They're very, very flexible and they have taken that time together to collaborate, ask questions. We're still figuring out and we still need some more supports, but we are working through it."

For some teachers - bringing their own experiences to the classroom is part of making them feel welcome.

"I know what it is to be from another country and speak another language," said Teresa Ramírez, a second-grade teacher at Cascade View Elementary. "I remember when I started and how I wish I was supported. That's what I tried to do to support them."

Ramírez was 16 when she came to the United States from Mexico. 

"I do tell them some of the stories and they - they relate to me and they like to hear that," Ramírez said.

Showing support or offering assistance to refugee and asylum-seeking families is becoming more controversial. Cities like Seattle and Tukwila have been trying to find housing solutions for hundreds of people including children who have been living in tents. However, when it comes to the classroom, Principal Dr. Fremstad said only one thing matters.

"We don't look at any political affiliations. We don't look at anything else," Fremstad said. "They're here to learn and it's our job to teach and that these kids - they are brilliant. They are amazing.” 

Cascade View Elementary serves preschool through fifth-grade students.

Fremstad said the school added a new teacher because of the influx of students and created a new classroom roster.

"It happened so quickly," Fremstad said. We have to kind of go on the fly to get things to work."

The district was already using a program that can translate more than 100 languages but more resources are needed to, not only support students, but also the teachers and staff who are handling the spike in enrollment.

The district CFO told KING 5 it is currently developing the 2024-2025 school year budget that includes identifying resources to serve their refugee families.

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