"[It's] an absolutely important role for our district to get translation and interpreting services centralized," said Rob Averett, district director of elementary school services.

This summer Granite added the Translation and Interpreting Department to offer support services for parents, students and district staff.

Before the addition, schools had to find their own interpreters and translation services.

"We saw the need for it and recognized the need to reach out to the community," Everett said.

The service is a collaboration among three departments: Student Services, Title I and Education Equity.

Sol Prodan was hired to serve as language services coordinator. Prodan joined the district after spending the past 10 years doing similar work in Salt Lake City School District.

A native of Uruguay, Prodan is fluent in Spanish and English and has working knowledge of French, Italian, German and Portuguese, according to district staff.

"A school counselor by profession, one of the most important elements of education is communication," Prodan said. "We will be able to reach all the communities, especially the minorities."

Granite's most common languages include Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic.

The department works with independent contractors to provide interpretation during school activities such as parent conferences and school meetings. The department also set up a Web page providing translated school and district documents.

Online information includes school terminology, a list of languages spoken in the district and their countries of origin, program facts and basic school services.

Prodan said one of the goals is to make sure parents are well-informed and for them to feel engaged in their child's education.

"If we connect with the parents a lot better, we can get better results," Prodan said. "This program really serves the community. . . . I've seen the good results that come out of it."

Staff can send written work for translation to the office to provide information to those parents who have limited English skills.

The office also will be offering a workshop for district staff who want to become interpreters.

rorellana@sltrib.com