Our district finally approved a full-time interpreter

Eighteen months of advocacy, three board meetings, and one very long letter. Sharing the whole process because I could not find anything like it when we started.

The turning point was reframing the request. We stopped asking for an interpreter as an accommodation and started presenting it as the district's existing legal obligation, with the relevant statute cited in writing. The tone of the conversation changed immediately.

Second thing that mattered: we brought two other families. A single parent is a complaint. Three families is a pattern the board has to minute.

Happy to share the letter template with anyone who wants it. It is not complicated, it just needs to be specific.