MOLINE -- Moline school officials sought to shrink the language gap in their district by holding a bilingual informational meeting at Ericsson Elementary Sunday to discuss the district's future.

"When having our forums, we noticed we didn't have a lot of our Hispanic families come," superintendent Dr. Cal Lee said. "We realized that was more than likely a result of the fact that we were only speaking English and they're non-English speakers. We wanted to make sure we provided that opportunity for a very important segment of our population."

The standing-room only crowd in Ericsson's small library was made up mostly of bilingual and Spanish-speaking parents. Administrators made it clear, with the help of translators, how important they feel it is to have the input of all members of the community, regardless of what language they speak.

"We're here today to continue what the board of education's been trying to do over the past year," Moline School Board President Kathy Weiman said, with second-grade teacher Juanita Terronez translating her comments into Spanish. "We're trying to better learn how to communicate with you and get information from you. We're not great at it yet. But we're learning."

Dr. Lee, who is of Chinese ancestry, said he could empathize with most in attendance regarding the language barrier.

"English is my second language, too," he said. "So it is easier for me to support bilingual education. I grew up only speaking Chinese until kindergarten."

Dr. Lee made it clear that Sunday's meeting was not to discuss closing Ericsson Elementary.

"We're not saying we won't close schools in the future or build new schools," he said. "We're working on a strategic plan right now, and based on what happens with that plan will determine what we do in the future. There's no decision right now."

Some decisions have been made, however. The district plans to alter its grade structure by moving sixth graders to the middle schools, leaving kindergarten through fifth-graders in elementary buildings. Some in attendance wanted to know the reasoning behind that decision.

Dr. Lee said the district is attempting to form smaller class sizes. Officials would like there to be 16 primary (K-2) classrooms, 20 intermediate (3-5) and 24 middle school (6-8) classrooms in the district. That decision was a result of the strategic plan that's been formulated over the last two years, he added.

Parents also wanted to know what would happen if the elementary school in their community did close. Some wanted to know if they would lose the bilingual or preschool programs should Ericsson close.

"We're committed to (those) programs," Dr. Lee said.

Others attending wanted to know why it was taking so long to see any changes. According to Ms. Weiman, the district still is correlating public opinion, which is why participation in such forums is so important.

Dr. Lee also took the opportunity to explain the district's five-point strategic plan. He said its most important aspect involved improving student achievement.

"We want to make sure our students, no matter what they decide to do -- whether it be go to college, go to the service or go to a trade school -- they have the skills to do it. That's number one," he said.

The other four points of the plan were improving facilities and technology; parent-community involvement and communications; continuous improvement; and sustainability.

"We want to make sure our facilities are equipped to meet the needs of our students in order for them to reach their full academic potential," he said.

Community forums are one way the district has attempted to improve parent-community involvement and communication, Dr. Lee said.

"We want you to tell us how we can help you," he said. "We would like very much for you to be a part of us making decisions."

After the approximately hour-long meeting, Dr. Lee said he was pleased with the outcome.

"The strategic plan right now is our blueprint. It's the direction we want to go as a district over the next four years," he said. "The purpose here is to give every segment of our community the opportunity to know what that plan is and understand what we're trying to do. ...

"I was very pleased with the turnout and all the questions. We don't want to do this alone. We want the community's input. That doesn't mean everything we do will please everybody. But we do want to make sure we have a feel for what most people want and provide everyone the answers as to why."