Global Lex 2024 Annual Update

In January 16th’s General Government and Planning (GGP) Committee, Isabel Taylor of Global Lex provided an update on the number of English Learners and languages spoken in Lexington. Global Lex helps local immigrants, refugees, and English learners access city services and find community resources, while also providing a host of multicultural services to LFUCG and organizations around Lexington.

In 2023, Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS) had 10,678 English-learning students; based on that number, Global Lex estimates that Fayette County as a whole has 106,780 English-learning residents.

Students in FCPS speak over 100 languages, with the top five languages other than English being Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Nepali, and French. You can view the entire presentation here.

Councilmembers asked several questions, mostly on the impact of a recent translation service Council funded recently. This service allows important documents to be translated into different languages for residents in Lexington. While the translations need to be vetted and proofread by fluent speakers, it still saves a lot of time as opposed to manual translation. Taylor assured Council that the service has been a great asset for the office.

You can watch the recorded meeting on LexTV.