School leaders nationwide are facing significant budget shortfalls in 2025. Multiple factors are creating this financial strain. The expiration of federal COVID-19 relief (ESSER) funds has left many districts making difficult cuts in staff and programs. Adding to this uncertainty, the federal government has proposed slashing $12 billion from the Department of Education's budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which would eliminate many K-12 and higher education programs. With these combined pressures, current budget cycles have districts resorting to hiring freezes and even layoffs to stay afloat.
Yet even as financial belts tighten, one area that cannot be neglected is communication with multilingual families. Families who speak little or no English still need to understand what's happening at school, and schools are legally and morally obligated to keep them in the loop. This challenge raises a key question: How can districts honor their language access obligations to parents while controlling costs?
We understand the pressure administrators are under. In an era of "do more with less," it's tempting to scale back anything perceived as extra. But translation and interpretation services for families are not optional add-ons; they're essential services, backed by civil rights law.
In this blog, we'll explore the requirements schools must meet (even amid budget cuts) and outline budget-friendly language support solutions like tiered translation services, remote interpretation, and AI speech translators. These strategies can help districts stretch their dollars without shutting out the voices of non-English-speaking families.
Federal law requires schools to provide language services despite budget constraints
Even when budgets are lean, schools cannot simply eliminate translation and interpretation services, as doing so would violate federal law. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) of 1974, public schools must provide language assistance so that English learner students and their families can participate meaningfully in education. This means all parents have a right to information about their child's education in a language they understand, which applies to everything from enrollment forms and report cards to parent-teacher conferences.
For parents of students with disabilities, the requirements are even more explicit. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its regulations mandate that schools "take whatever action is necessary," including arranging for interpreters or translating documents, so that parents can understand and participate in special education decisions. Schools must give all parents, regardless of what language they speak, the opportunity to engage fully in meetings and communications about their child's services.
"There's no legal authority to suddenly permit [...] officials to stop translating enrollment information or interpreting meetings," notes Conor Williams, an education researcher. Districts that have tried to cut corners have faced consequences. For example, New York City's education department recently settled a lawsuit after families complained they couldn't get translations of vital school communications; the settlement is now forcing the district to expand training and oversight for language services.
5.3 million English learners in schools create an increased need for language services
The need for these services is immense and growing. Nationwide, about 5.3 million public school students, roughly 10.6% of enrollment, are classified as English learners, up from 4.6 million a decade earlier. In many communities, the proportion is far higher. In New York City, for instance, 44% of public school students come from families who primarily speak a language other than English at home.
Nearly 1 in 10 students in special education nationally is also an English learner (a number that jumped 30% between 2012 and 2020). These statistics underscore a crucial reality: language services are not a niche luxury, but a fundamental requirement for school districts serving diverse communities.
Yet we also hear from school administrators about the very real budget pressures. Many districts say they "don't have the money to hire more interpreters or contract with language service agencies..” In a crunch, some schools have even resorted to using bilingual staff or students as informal interpreters, a practice experts roundly criticize as "totally inappropriate".
The good news is that there are ways to meet language access obligations without breaking the bank. By leveraging innovative service models and technology, districts can communicate effectively with all parents and stay within budget. Here are three key strategies:
Combine AI and human review for more efficient document translation
One budget-friendly approach is to match the level of translation service to the importance of the content, a concept we call tiered service levels. Not every document requires the expense of fully manual, line-by-line human translation. For many types of routine school communications, an AI-powered translation combined with human oversight can deliver accuracy at a fraction of the cost of traditional translation.
How does this work? A machine translation engine (using advanced AI) can produce an initial translation of a newsletter, announcement, or general update in seconds. Then, a professional human linguist reviews and edits the machine output to fix any errors or awkward phrasing. This process, known as post-editing, significantly boosts productivity because translators can work faster than translating from scratch, lowering the district's cost.
For example, a school might use this AI + human approach for things like daily cafeteria menus, event reminders, or standard letters that go out in multiple languages. Families still receive a clear and accurate message in their language, but the school saves money by reducing labor hours. Crucially, schools can still allocate the highest level of care to critical or sensitive materials. Legal documents (like IEPs or disciplinary notices), complex policy explanations, or anything where nuance is crucial can be assigned to a senior human translator or team for full manual translation.
In practice, we've seen districts succeed with this model, using AI + human editing for cost savings on everyday communications, and reserving complete human translation for high-priority documents. By being strategic, you stretch your translation budget further without sacrificing comprehension.
Connect with remote interpreters on demand for one-on-one parent conversations
Another area to optimize is interpretation services for live interactions. Traditionally, districts might hire on-site interpreters for events or employ a handful of bilingual family liaisons, which can be costly and limited in language range. Today, telephonic and video remote interpretation offer a more flexible and budget-friendly solution for on-demand language support.
Telephonic interpretation (TI) allows schools to connect with a professional interpreter in virtually any language within minutes. For instance, if a parent who speaks Swahili comes to the office, staff can dial into a service line and get a Swahili interpreter on the phone to facilitate the conversation. You pay only for the minutes used, and there's no need to have that language expert on payroll or on-site.
Video Remote Interpretation (VRI) takes this a step further by adding a video link so the interpreter, parent, and staff can see each other (useful for sign language or when visual cues aid understanding). With VRI, educators can conduct meetings like IEP discussions or parent-teacher conferences with an interpreter joining remotely via a tablet or laptop. The school doesn't incur travel expenses or hourly minimums for an in-person interpreter.
Importantly, using phone or video interpreters still meets the legal standard. Guidance makes clear that interpreters can be provided in person, on the phone, or in a virtual space, as long as they are competent in the family's language and the content area. What matters is quality and accuracy, not the physical presence of the interpreter.
The savings can be substantial: instead of paying a two-hour minimum fee plus mileage for a 20-minute parent meeting, a school might pay only for a 20-minute phone interpretation session. Over a year, these differences add up.
Host multilingual group meetings where everyone participates in their preferred language
One of the newest budget-friendly tools in the language arsenal is AI speech translation technology for multilingual meetings. These cloud-based solutions enable live interpretation for meetings and events, allowing participants to listen and participate in their preferred language. Think of it like having a personal UN interpreter for your school meeting, but without flying interpreters in or setting up special equipment.
Here's how it works: You host your meeting on a virtual platform equipped with translation capabilities and connect with interpreters for the languages you need. Attendees join the meeting and select their language channel (e.g., Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese). They then hear the interpreter's real-time translation of the speaker and can speak in their own language for the interpreter to relay to others. All of this happens virtually. The interpreters can be professionals located anywhere in the world, joining your meeting remotely through the digital interface.
For school districts, these multilingual platforms offer two significant benefits. First, they enable broader family participation. Parents who might not attend an English-only meeting feel welcome when they know they can listen and speak in their language. Second, they are cost-efficient. Rather than hiring multiple interpreters to physically attend a meeting (and possibly renting equipment like headsets), you pay for interpreters' service time online, often at more flexible rates.
Imagine a virtual "multilingual town hall" where Spanish, Polish, and Chinese-speaking parents all join the same session and connect in real time. This kind of inclusive communication builds trust, which is especially crucial during budget-stressed periods when tough decisions are explained.
Meeting language access needs is possible even with limited school budgets
Budget cuts and resource constraints are an undeniable reality for schools in 2025. Administrators are juggling dozens of urgent needs and making painful budget choices. In this environment, it's important to remember that language access is tied directly to educational equity. When families can't understand school communications, students suffer, whether they're missing out on services, misunderstanding homework, or feeling unwelcome.
The encouraging news is that meeting these obligations doesn't have to sink your budget. By adopting creative solutions like tiered AI-assisted translation, on-demand remote interpreters, and multilingual meeting technology, districts can significantly reduce costs compared to traditional methods. At the same time, these innovations can improve response times and convenience, making it easier, not harder, to communicate with multilingual parents.
Our team at Argo Translation is here to help school districts navigate this balancing act. Many of us are parents too, and we understand the importance of that note from the teacher making sense to Mom or Dad. We also understand the budgeting headaches. Our approach is to partner with schools to find the right mix of services for their situation, ensuring compliance and understanding for all families, with solutions that fit within financial realities. We invite you to schedule a consultation today to discover how this partnership can support your district's language access needs.
