Summary and Data Usage of Translation and Interpretation Services 2025- 2026

AID 2016944 · View on Simbli

Agenda Item

c. Translations and Interpretation Services (Not to Exceed $1,500,000)

Summary: Presented by: Mrs. Kiana King, Interim Chief of Student Services, Division of Student Services
Request: It is requested that the DeKalb County Board of Education approve the purchase of professional translation and interpretation services from the following vendors in excess of $100,000 with a combined total not to exceed $1,500,000 for the following seven vendors:

ALTA Language Services
LATN Language Solutions
Piedmont Global Language Service
Real Time Translation
SeSo, Inc.
Translation Station, Inc.
Zab Translation Solutions
Why: Due to combined spending from all schools and centers serving parents and students whose primary home language is other than English (PHLOTEs), the total cost of translation and interpretation services may exceed $100,000 from one or more of the service providers.
Details: The DeKalb County School District, as a local educational agency (LEA) receiving federal grants, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants, has a legal obligation to maintain meaningful communication with parents and students who may not have English as their primary language. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and IDEA mandate that parental notices and communication must be in a language that the parents or guardians can understand. Services from approved agencies are included in the district’s agreement with the OCR to provide language support services to families and students who speak other languages. Additionally, interpretation services are required during Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings.
Financial impact: The financial impact to the general funds for the school year 2026-2027 will not exceed the amount of $1,500,000.00.

Department of English Learners Charge Code:
100.2100 530000.07711.7130.9990.6015.094.0000 ($975,000.00)

Department of Exceptional Education Charge Code: 100.1000.530000.00011.7340.2021.8010.094.0000($450,000.00)
100.1000.530000.22711.7320.9990.8010.094.0000($50,000.00)
Title III Funds and general funds will be used to purchase these resources.
Charge codes:
460.1000.553200.07221.7130.1816.6015.094.2026
100.1000.553200.07711.7130.1353.6015.094.0000
Contact: Mrs. Kiana King, Interim Chief of Student Services, Division of Student Services,
Dr. Evelyn Hall, Executive Director of English Learners Department 678-676-6603
Dr. Erin Broyard-Baptiste, Interim Executive Director, Exceptional Education, Division of Student Services, 678-676-1814
Effective: July 1, 2026- June 30, 2027
Status: Approved by the Office of Legal Affairs
                      DeKalb Approved Vendors Providing Interpretation and Translation Services
                         Summary and Data Usage of Translation and Interpretation Services
                                        From July 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026
To address the language access needs (per the Office of Civil Rights guidelines) of Primary Home Language Other than English (PHLOTE) families,
DCSD provides both unscheduled and scheduled interpretation and translation services. Unscheduled interpretations respond to immediate needs,
requests, and/or urgent situations using the International Student Screening Center (ISSC) Help Line, or the ELSA app. Scheduled interpretations
require a live interpreter for face-to-face and planned phone meetings with parents. The translation of documents is processed from requests
received through Plunet from school or district-based stakeholders to be translated into a language other than English. Plunet is a web-based
platform that enables the English Learners Department to manage and monitor interpretation and translation requests.

DCSD’s PHLOTE families speak about 170 languages and dialects. Below are the top fifteen languages spoken by the in-house interpreters.


                                                                                          DCSD Top 15 Languages
               Language          In-House Interpreters               Language                            Students           Percent of Total
         Spanish                          26                         Spanish                               16,193               60.3%
         Amharic                           3                         Amharic                                1,164                4.3%
         French                            3                         Swahili                                 970                 3.6%
         Karen                             2                         Burmese, Hakka Chin                     753                 2.8%
         Nepali                            2                         Dari                                    748                 2.8%
         Swahili                           2                         Arabic                                  536                 2.0%
         Arabic                            1                         Pashto/Pashtu                           444                 1.7%
         Burmese                           1                         Karen                                   416                 1.5%
                                                                     Bengali                                 372                 1.4%
         Dari                              1
                                                                     Nepali                                  335                 1.2%
         Kinyarwanda                       1
                                                                     Rohingya                                310                 1.2%
         Kirundi                           1                         French                                  268                 1.0%
         Lingala                           1                         Tigrinya                                231                 0.9%
         Mam                               1                         Hindi                                   212                 0.8%
         Tigrinya                          1                         Vietnamese                              198                 0.7%
         Zuluba                            1                         Total PHLOTEs                         26,853


Highly qualified and certified interpreters provided interpretation and translation services for but not limited to Parent/Teacher conferences,
Curriculum Nights, International Student Screening Center (ISSC) Help Line, conference calls, MTSSs, 504 meetings, Reclassification meetings, ESOL
Waiver conferences, hearings, Open House, parent engagement opportunities, and more.




         The graph above shows the number of each type of interpretation and translation service requested for the 2025 - 2026
                                                             school year
     The tables below represent the three types of interpretation and translation services provided for each language spoken by DCSD parents during the
     2025-2026 school year.


    2025-2026 Scheduled Interpretation Services              2025-2026 Unscheduled Interpretations Services                            2025-2026 Translations
                                                                                                                                             Number  of     Potential PHLOTE
                                                         (DCSD Help Line, ELSA Landline, ELSA App, Language Line)      Languages for      Translations Per Familes Impacted
   Languages Assigned for   Number of Interpretations
        Interpretation           Per Language                                                                           Translation           Language        per Language
                                                        Language                         Total Calls Per Language   Afar                          1                 15
Afar                                    1
                                                        Albanian                                      4             Albanian                      2                 9
Albanian                                1
                                                        Amharic                                     801             Amharic                      153              1,164
Amharic                               245               Arabic                                     1,040            Arabic                       141               536
Arabic                                173               Bengali                                     137             Bengali                      118               372
Bengali                                61               Bosnian                                       2             Burmese                      146               753
Burmese                               230               Burmese                                    1,053            Chinese (Simplified)          1                 94
Chin                                    6               Cambodian                                     2             Dari                         154               748
Chinese (Simplified)                    7               Cantonese                                     3             English (USA)                 3                 3
Dari                                  178               Chin                                          8             Farsi                         2                 79
Farsi                                  11               Chinese                                       4             French                       121               268
                                                        Creole                                        1             Gujarati                      3                 83
French                                 16
                                                        Czech                                         1             Hindi                        115               212
Fulani                                  2
                                                        Dari                                        800             Karen                        129               416
Gujarati                               17               Dinka                                         1
Haitian Creole                          5                                                                           Kinyarwanda                   8                151
                                                        Farsi                                        55             Korean                        1                 54
Hindi                                  15               French                                      181
                                                                                                                    Kunama                        1                 75
Japanese                                3               French Creole                                 2
                                                                                                                    Malay                         1                 24
Karen                                 106               Fulani                                        4
                                                                                                                    Nepali                       118               335
Karenni                                 9               Gujarati                                      6
                                                                                                                    Portuguese (Brazil)           1                 47
Kinyarwanda                            21               Haitian Creole                               16
                                                                                                                    Pushto                       120               444
Kirundi                                 2               Hakka Chin                                    1
                                                                                                                    Rohingya                     124               310
                                                        Hindi                                         9
Korean                                  4                                                                           Russian                       3                 38
                                                        Hmong                                         1
Kunama                                 10                                                                           Somali                       119               194
                                                        Japanese                                      8
Malayalam                               1                                                                           Spanish (US)                 461             16,193
                                                        Karen                                       710
Mam                                     3                                                                           Swahili                      145               970
                                                        Karenni                                       1
Mandingo                                3               Kinya                                         5
                                                                                                                    Tigrinya                     121               231
Mandinka                                1               Kinyarwanda                                 184             Urdu                          1                 84
                                                        Kir                                           1             Vietnamese                    9                198
Mara                                    2
                                                        Kirundi                                       1             Grand Total                 2,322            24,097
Nepali                                119
Oromo                                  20               Korean                                        5
                                                        Kunama                                        7
Portuguese (Brazil)                     3
                                                        Kurdish                                       4
Portuguese (Portugal)                   1
                                                        Kurmanji                                      1
Punjabi                                 1               Lingala                                       1
Pushto                                 42               Malay                                        19
Rohingya                               54               Mandarin                                     14
Russian                                 2               Negreni                                       1
Sango                                   5               Nepali                                      738
Somali                                 42               Oromo                                        10
Spanish (US)                         3,681              Pashto                                      253
Sundanese                               1               Pashtu                                       18
                                                        Persian                                      27
Swahili                               251
                                                        Polish                                        1
Tamil                                   1
                                                        Portuguese                                    6
Telugu                                  9               Pujabi                                        6
Tigrinya
      21                               41               Rohini                                        9
Urdu                                   11               Rohingya                                    200
Vietnamese                             11               Romanian                                      8
Zo                                      1               Rundi                                         2
Zomi                                    3               Russian                                       7
Grand Total                          5,432              Samoan                                        2
                                                        Serbian                                       1
                                                        Somali                                      111
                                                        Sorani                                        5
                                                        Spanish                                   20,697
                                                        Sudanese                                      4
                                                        Sudanese Arabic                               2
                                                        Swahili                                     818
                                                        Tagalog                                       1
                                                        Tamil                                         1
                                                        Telugu                                        1
                                                        Tigrinya                                    188
                                                        Turkish                                       2
                                                        Uganda                                        1
                                                        Urdu                                          9
                                                        Vietnamese                                   24
                                                        Wolof                                         1
                                                        Zo                                            3
                                                        Grand Total                               28,250
These tables show what percentage each Area accounts for of total services provided for the three service categories.
  Scheduled Interpretations    % of Total    Unscheduled Interpretations   % of Total             Translations      % of Total
Area 1 Elementary Schools         8.9%      Area 1 Elementary Schools        22.7%      Area 1 Elementary Schools      2.3%
Area 2 Elementary Schools         9.7%      Area 2 Elementary Schools        17.0%      Area 2 Elementary Schools      0.5%
Area 3 Elementary Schools         1.5%      Area 3 Elementary Schools         2.7%      Area 3 Elementary Schools      1.4%
Area Middle Schools               5.4%      Area 4 Middle Schools            13.7%      Area 4 Middle Schools          2.3%
Area High Schools                 6.2%      Area 5 High Schools              18.1%      Area 5 High Schools            4.2%
Area Horizon Schools              3.6%      Area 6 Horizon Schools           15.3%      Area 6 Horizon Schools         2.6%
Area Specialty Schools            2.8%      Area 7 Specialty Schools          4.8%      Area 7 Specialty Schools       5.6%
District Office                  61.9%      District Office *                 5.7%      District Office *             81.1%




                                              * District Level Scheduled Interpretations
                       Community Engagement and Innovative Partnerships                              0.7%
                       DCSD Board of Education                                                       0.6%
                       Department of Communications                                                  0.7%
                       Department of Family and Community Empowerment                                1.0%
                       Department of Student Relations                                              0.03%
                       Division of Human Resources                                                   0.2%
                       Early Childhood Education Department                                          0.1%
                       English Learners Department                                                   0.7%
                       Gifted and Talented Department                                                0.3%
                       MTSS Department                                                              13.5%
                       Office of Continuous Improvement, Research, Data and Evaluation               0.4%
                       Office of Federal Programs                                                    0.5%
                       School Choice Programs & Student Assignment                                   3.5%
                       School Innovation/Governance                                                 0.03%
                       Special Education Department                                                 77.7%
                       Wrap Around Support & Intervention                                           0.03%

                                            * District Level Unscheduled Interpretations
                       504/HHB                                                                       0.1%
                       AIC                                                                           0.1%
                       Area High School Office                                                       0.1%
                       Area Middle School Office                                                     0.2%
                       Department of Public Safety                                                   0.3%
                       Department of School Nutrition Services                                       3.7%
                       Department of School Relations                                                0.1%
                       Department of Student Relations                                               0.8%
                       Department of Transportation and Fleet Services                               0.2%
                       Division of Access and Opportunity                                            0.2%
                       Division of Human Resources                                                   0.7%
                       Early Childhood Education Department                                          0.1%
                       Early Learning and PreK                                                       0.1%
                       Early Learning Center                                                         0.1%
                       English Learners Department                                                  39.7%
                       International Student Screening Center                                       17.5%
                       Preschool Diagnostics                                                         0.1%
                       School Innovation/Governance                                                  0.2%
                       School Social Work                                                           31.3%
                       Special Education Department                                                  0.1%
                       State Reporting                                                               0.1%
                                               * District Level Translations
                 Assessment Administration                                                                    22.6%
                 Community Engagement and Innovative Partnerships                                              1.8%
                 Curriculum & Instruction                                                                      2.5%
                 Department of Communications                                                                  7.6%
                 Department of Educational Media                                                               0.2%
                 Department of Family and Community Empowerment                                                0.1%
                 Department of Student Relations                                                               8.4%
                 Department of Transportation and Fleet Services                                               0.8%
                 Division of Access and Opportunity                                                            3.6%
                 Division of Information and Instructional Technology                                          0.9%
                 Early Childhood Education Department                                                          1.9%
                 English Learners Department                                                                   9.8%
                 Gifted and Talented Department                                                                4.0%
                 MTSS Department                                                                               2.4%
                 Office of Continuous Improvement, Research, Data and Evaluation                              22.0%
                 Office of Federal Programs                                                                    0.4%
                 School Choice Programs & Student Assignment                                                   3.5%
                 School Innovation/Governance                                                                  2.4%
                 School Social Work                                                                            1.1%
                 Special Education Department                                                                  2.7%
                 Strategic Planning                                                                            0.8%
                 Superintendent's Office                                                                       0.4%




              2025-2026 Scheduled Interpretations                                       2025-2026 Unscheduled Interpretations


                                                                                                RTT Mobile - ELSA
                                                                                                  APP, Landline
                                               ALTA                                               4,354 - 15.4%
                                           1,367 - 25.2%
                 DCSD - In House                                                        Language Line
                  1,535 - 28.3%                                                          2,182 - 7.7%


                                                                  Seso, Inc.,
    Zab                                                           122, 2.2%
Translation
 , 14, 0.3%                                                                                                         DCSD - Help Line
                            Translation                                                                              21,714 - 76.9%
                              Station
                           2,394 - 44.1%




       The graph above shows the number and percentage of Scheduled               The graph above shows the number and percentage of Unscheduled
  Interpretations (Face to Face or Over the Phone) handled by each provider     Interpretations (ELSA App & landline, DCSD Help Line and Language Line)
                      during the 2025 - 2026 school year                              handled by each provider during the 2025 - 2025 school year
This table shows the number of interpretations completed per language for each of our service providers.
                                     2025-2026 Scheduled Interpretations
                                                      Translation                     DCSD - In
 Language                ALTA         Seso, Inc.        Station     Zab Translation    House      Grand Total
 Afar                                                      1                                            1
 Albanian                                                  1                                            1
 Amharic                  42                              114              1             86           243
 Arabic                   27             13               69               1             63           173
 Bengali                  5                               54               1                           60
 Burmese                  10              2               146              1             71           230
 Chin                                                      6                                            6
 Chinese (Simplified)     1                                6                                            7
 Dari                                                     125              1             51           177
 Farsi                    2                                8                              1            11
 French                   5                                5               1              5            16
 Fulani                                                    2                                            2
 Gujarati                                                 17                                           17
 Haitian Creole                                            5                                            5
 Hindi                    3                               11               1                           15
 Japanese                 1                                2                                            3
 Karen                                                    62               1             43           106
 Karenni                                                   9                                            9
 Kinyarwanda                                               8                             12            20
 Kirundi                                                   1                              1             2
 Korean                                                    4                                            4
 Kunama                                                   10                                           10
 Malayalam                                                 1                                            1
 Mam                                                       1                              2             3
 Mandingo                                                  3                                            3
 Mandinka                                                  1                                            1
 Mara                                                      2                                            2
 Nepali                                                   70               1             48           119
 Oromo                                                    20                                           20
 Portuguese (Brazil)                      1                2                                            3
 Portuguese (Portugal)    1                                                                             1
 Punjabi                                                   1                                            1
 Pushto                                                   39               1              1            41
 Rohingya                                                 53               1                           54
 Russian                                                   2                                            2
 Sango                                                     5                                            5
 Somali                                                   41               1                           42
 Spanish (US)            1,268           105            1,303                           1,015        3,691
 Sundanese                                                 1                                            1
 Swahili                                                 119               1            128           248
 Tamil                                                     1                                            1
 Telugu                                                    9                                            9
 Tigrinya                                                 31               1              8            40
 Urdu                                                     11                                           11
 Vietnamese               2               1                8                                           11
 Zo                                                        1                                            1
 Zomi                                                      3                                            3
 Grand Total             1,367           122            2,394              14          1,535         5,432
These tables show the number of interpretation calls per language performed by each of our service providers
                          and the total duration in minutes used per language.
                     2025-2026 Unscheduled Interpretations Calls                       2025-2026 Unscheduled Interpretations
                (DCSD Help Line, ELSA Landline, ELSA App, Language Line)                ELSA Landline, ELSA App and Language Line
     Language          DCSD Help Line        ELSA       Language Line Total Calls
                                                                                    Languages Assigned for   Total Minutes used per
     Albanian                                                  4            4
                                                                                         Interpretation             Language
     Amharic                  643              85             73           801
                                                                                    Albanian                            63
     Arabic                   604             267            169          1,040
                                                                                    Amharic                           1,984
     Bengali                                  118             19           137
                                                                                    Arabic                            6,141
     Bosnian                                    2                           2
                                                                                    Bengali                           1,628
     Burmese                  676             224            153          1,053
                                                                                    Bosnian                             13
     Cambodian                                  2                           2       Burmese                           4,863
     Cantonese                                  3                           3       Cambodian                           30
     Chin                                       2              6            8       Cantonese                           59
     Chinese                                    4                           4       Chin                                76
     Creole                                     1                           1       Chinese                             42
     Czech                                                     1            1       Creole                              31
     Dari                     262             276            262           800      Czech                                3
     Dinka                                                     1            1       Dari                              6,776
     Farsi                                     29             26            55      Dinka                                7
     French                   40               90             51           181      Farsi                              637
     French Creole                              2                           2       French                            1,893
     Fulani                                                    4            4       French Creole                       37
     Gujarati                                   2              4            6       Fulani                              25
     Haitian Creole                            16                           16      Gujarati                            54
     Hakka Chin                                 1                           1       Haitian Creole                     337
     Hindi                                      7              2            9       Hakka Chin                          22
     Hmong                                      1                           1       Hindi                               56
     Japanese                                   8                           8       Hmong                               15
     Karen                    616              48             46           710      Japanese                           116
     Karenni                                    1                           1       Karen                             1,171
     Kinya                                      5                           5       Karenni                              4
     Kinyarwanda              90               53             41           184      Kinya                               93
     Kir                                        1                           1       Kinyarwanda                       1,280
     Kirundi                                    1                           1       Kir                                  6
     Korean                                     2              3            5       Kirundi                             14
     Kunama                                     1              6            7       Korean                              38
     Kurdish                                    4                           4       Kunama                             106
     Kurmanji                                                  1            1       Kurdish                             58
     Lingala                                    1                           1       Kurmanji                             7
     Malay                                                    19            19      Lingala                              5
     Mandarin                                  14                           14      Malay                              208
     Negreni                                    1                           1       Mandarin                           167
     Nepali                   599              42             97           738      Negreni                             25
     Oromo                                      5              5            10      Nepali                            1,388
     Pashto                                   175             78           253      Oromo                              169
     Pashtu                                    18                           18      Pashto                            3,232
     Persian                                   27                           27      Pashtu                             257
     Polish                                     1                           1       Persian                            326
                                                                                    Polish                               6
     Portuguese                                 6                           6
                                                                                    Portuguese                          97
     Pujabi                                     1              5            6
                                                                                    Pujabi                              35
     Rohini                                     9                           9
                                                                                    Rohini                             224
     Rohingya                                 158             42           200
                                                                                    Rohingya                          2,790
     Romanian                                   8                           8
                                                                                    Romanian                            91
     Rundi                                                     2            2
                                                                                    Rundi                              109
     Russian                                    7                           7
                                                                                    Russian                             68
     Samoan                                                    2            2
                                                                                    Samoan                              21
     Serbian                                    1                           1
                                                                                    Serbian                              7
     Somali                                    87             24           111
                                                                                    Somali                            1,581
     Sorani                                                    5            5
                                                                                    Sorani                              76
     Spanish                17,881           2,092           724         20,697
                                                                                    Spanish                          37,497
     Sudanese                                   1              3            4
                                                                                    Sudanese                            16
     Sudanese Arabic                            2                           2
                                                                                    Sudanese Arabic                     43
     Swahili                  205             378            235           818      Swahili                           7,087
     Tagalog                                                   1            1       Tagalog                              3
     Tamil                                                     1            1       Tamil                                6
     Telugu                                                    1            1       Telugu                              12
     Tigrinya                 98                     40       50           188      Tigrinya                          1,175
     Turkish                                    1              1            2       Turkish                             13
     Uganda                                     1                           1       Uganda                               8
     Urdu                                       5              4            9       Urdu                                58
     Vietnamese                                16              8            24      Vietnamese                         443
     Wolof                                      1                           1       Wolof                                8
     Zo                                                        3            3       Zo                                  81
     Grand Total            21,714           4,354          2,182        28,250     Grand Total                      85,017
This table shows the number of translations completed per language by each of our service providers.

                                           2025-2026 Translations
                  Languages for
                   Translation        DCSD - In House   Zab Translation     Total Translations
               Afar                                            1                    1
               Albanian                                        2                    2
               Amharic                      22                131                  153
               Arabic                       13                128                  141
               Bengali                                        118                  118
               Burmese                      19                127                  146
               Chinese (Simplified)                            1                    1
               Dari                         17                137                  154
               English (USA)                                   3                    3
               Farsi                                           2                    2
               French                        6                115                  121
               Gujarati                                        3                    3
               Hindi                                          115                  115
               Karen                        16                113                  129
               Kinyarwanda                   6                 2                    8
               Korean                                          1                    1
               Kunama                                          1                    1
               Malay                                           1                    1
               Nepali                        2                116                  118
               Portuguese (Brazil)                             1                    1
               Pushto                        1                119                  120
               Rohingya                                       124                  124
               Russian                                         3                    3
               Somali                                         119                  119
               Spanish (US)                 456                5                   461
               Swahili                      15                130                  145
               Tigrinya                      7                114                  121
               Urdu                                            1                    1
               Vietnamese                                      9                    9
               Grand Total                  580              1,742                2,322


                                           2025-2026 Translations



                                          DCSD - In
                                           House
                                           25.0%




                                                               ZAB
                                                              75.0%




                   The graph above shows the number and percentage of translation requests
                          handled by each provider during the 2025 - 2026 school year