Non-English-Speaking Students on Increase in Ventura County Schools : Education: Report shows continuation of a trend. Officials say they need 300 more bilingual teachers.

VENTURA —  In a continuing upward trend, the number of Ventura County public school students who speak little or no English increased by nearly 2,000, or about 10%, last year, according to a new report.

The influx brings the number of limited-English-speaking students in the county to about one-fifth of the county’s 116,230 students, according to the report by the office of the Ventura County superintendent of schools. The statistics were compiled from last spring’s enrollment figures.

The number of non-English-speaking students rose 14% two years ago and has been increasing for several years.

School districts in the Oxnard area continue to have the largest numbers of these students. But schools in the Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks areas are also enrolling more non-English-speaking pupils, greatly increasing the need for bilingual teachers.

“More and more the Simi Valley and Conejo Valley school districts are realizing this is not an Oxnard or Santa Paula problem, this is something everybody has to recognize,” said Clifford Rodrigues, director of bilingual education for the Ventura County superintendent of schools’ office.

He said that there are 230 certified bilingual teachers working in Ventura County, but that about 300 more are needed.

Rodrigues said his office offers a bilingual training program for teachers. Although about 300 teachers are enrolled, he said it can take four years or longer for teachers to become certified.

In schools across California, the number of non-English-speaking students topped 1 million in 1992, a 9% increase over the previous year. Ventura County had the 10th-highest percentage of students with limited or no English language skills, behind Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, among others.

Nearly all--92.6%--of the Ventura County students who knew little or no English were fluent in Spanish, the report said.

In addition to the shortage of qualified bilingual teachers, school districts in Ventura County, like those elsewhere, must also cope with shrinking budgets and overcrowded classrooms.

Oxnard Elementary School District Supt. Norman Brekke said classes in the district have 30 to 35 students each.

“This exacerbates the problem,” he said.

But Brekke said that his district will get some help from the Oxnard Union High School District, which plans to launch a student-to-student tutorial program next month.

Under the program, students in the high school district will be paid to tutor elementary school pupils who are having trouble developing their English language skills.