LYNN — School Committee members discussed the contract with Rosetta Stone the district adopted in January at the committee’s meeting on Thursday.
The district’s Rosetta Stone membership costs $448,000 annually and is set to continue for three more years. This program was designed to help students, district staff members, School Committee members, and the families of Lynn Public Schools students by allowing them to learn more than 25 languages for free.
“Learners intuitively use reasoning to build context between written words, spoken language, and images for a deeper and more lasting understanding of the language. Immersive lessons engage all four domains of language — speaking, listening, reading, and writing,” according to a press release from the district about the contract.
Superintendent Dr. Evonne Alvarez said anyone can sign up for the program at any time and training is offered incrementally.
School Business Administrator Kevin McHugh said the membership for the service covers the amount of schools using it, rather than the number of people who subscribe to the service.
Dr. Alvarez said the reason the district was able to pay $448,000 for the program was because of a preexisting contract with Math IXL, an online mathematics course that offers online practice, assessment, and grading.
“I think (it’s) probably less than half of the cost of what a district that didn’t have Math IXL would cost,” she said.
School Committee member Brian Castellanos asked how usage of Rosetta Stone will be monitored over time to justify the district’s investment.
“What’s going to be our number to say, all right, we’re gonna back out of this?” Castellanos asked.
Dr. Alvarez said the first step is to assess engagement quarterly.
“I think it’s a little early for us to say we’re going to end a contract for something we just started,” she said.
Dr. Alvarez said that the assessments might be based on who is using the program, how the district is using the program, and what students and families that are not using the program would require to access it.
Castellanos asked who will be conducting the quarterly assessments, to which Dr. Alvarez replied that she, human resources, and staff members would be conducting them.
Castellanos also asked about the incentives that are being offered for students to participate in Rosetta Stone.
Dr. Alvarez said some of the innovative programs her team are bringing to the district and its curriculum require students to be proficient and bilingual, not just in Spanish.
“They could choose Portuguese, they could choose French, they could choose really anything they wanted,” she said.
