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School survey shows parents prefer Spanish and French over Haitian Creole for a proposed language program in Little Haiti (Miami, Florida)

A survey seeking input on controversial curriculum changes at a Little Haiti school shows that local parents prefer Spanish and French over Haitian Creole for a proposed language program.

The surveys were publicly tallied Thursday at Morningside Elementary.

As part of an effort to improve the C-ranked school, Miami-Dade school officials sent out surveys to parents who had children enrolled there, as well as to those who lived in the area but didn't have kids in the school. Faculty members were also surveyed.

The curriculum proposal in turn has ignited tension and suspicion between a handful of Little Haiti leaders and Upper Eastside parents pushing for changes at Morningside, whose student body is predominantly of Haitian descent. Members of both sides have also questioned whether a full-immersion language program will improve test scores.

''This is what the community has asked for,'' Daniel Tosado, an associate superintendent for Miami-Dade schools, said after the public tallying. ``I think we have the capacity to build an excellent program around these elements.''

Some 500 students attend Morningside, at 6620 NE Fifth Ave. Neighborhoods served by the school include Morningside, Little Haiti and Palm Grove.

According to the ballots, counted by three school personnel, 167 voters want to see Spanish and French as full-immersion languages during the week, and Creole for a Saturday academy; 114 voters want Creole and Spanish as the languages, and French for Saturday; and 54 requested French and Creole for the curriculum, and Spanish for Saturday.

Fifty-three votes were deemed ''undetermined'' because the directions weren't followed, or it was unclear which of the three languages the voter wanted. A few ballots were not completed.