**By signing this petition, you confirm that you either pay taxes to Katy ISD or have students enrolled within Katy ISD**

Hi, my name is Diva Balasubramanian, and I am an eighth‑grade student at Cinco Ranch Junior High in Katy ISD. I come from a Tamil-speaking family and have grown up surrounded by the language and culture. 

As a Tamil-speaking student in Katy ISD, I have seen first-hand how deeply rooted and widely spoken this language is within our community and how strongly its absence is felt in our district’s world‑language offerings. 

That’s why I’m creating this petition: to ask Katy ISD to recognize Tamil for world‑language credit in high schools and give Tamil‑speaking students the academic acknowledgment we’ve earned. 

Why Tamil Matters in Katy ISD 

Tamil is more than a language for the 450+ students in Katy ISD; It is a living connection to family, heritage and to one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures, with a history stretching back more than two millennia.  

What makes Tamil unique in Katy ISD is: 

• Katy is home to the largest and fastest‑growing Tamil-speaking community in the Greater Houston area.
• Tamil is a key part of daily life, spoken at home and taught in active weekend Tamil schools.
• Many cultural events, festivals, and academic competitions are held in Katy due to the community’s strong presence.
• Pongal, the most important Tamil festival, is hosted annually in Katy and attracts hundreds of families from across Greater Houston. In 2025, the Pongal celebration received an official Proclamation from the Mayor of Houston, highlighting the community’s visibility and impact. 
• Tamil’s global and historical significance is well documented. It was the first language designated as a Classical Language (Semmozhi) by the Government of India in 2004, based on its more than 2,000 years of documented history, extensive ancient literature, and independent linguistic tradition.
• Tamil is a top‑20 world language with nearly 90 million speakers (Rank #19).
• Tamil is spoken across more than 30 countries and recognized as an official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore.  
• Archeological and historical evidence also shows early trade and cultural connections between Tamil‑speaking regions and places like Egypt and parts of Europe.  Also, the rapidly growing Tamil‑speaking population in the Katy area reflects the district’s broader cultural diversity and multilingual values.

Despite its deep roots and the undeniable demographic importance of Tamil-speaking families in Katy, Tamil continues to remain unrecognized as a world language for credit in Katy Independent School District (Katy ISD).  

This omission sends an unintended but painful message: that a major global language, and the identity of the students who speak and cherish it, do not fully count. 

The Problem: A Gap in Academic Fairness, Equity and Recognition 

This is an issue of academic fairness, equity, and representation. Right now, the absence of Tamil in Katy ISD’s world‑language offerings does not reflect the reality of our community. 

Many families in Katy invest years in structured Tamil education through organizations such as the Greater Houston Tamil School (HTS). Students achieve fluency through a TEA-aligned, Cognia-accredited curriculum and rigorous instruction in grammar, literature, and cultural history. Curriculum and instruction emphasize the four core language skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing (LSRW). Neighboring districts including  Houston ISD, and Fortbend ISD have already acknowledged Tamil’s academic rigor by offering it for world‑language credit.

Because Katy ISD does not recognize Tamil, Tamil-speaking students face an inequitable situation and unnecessary academic burden in which students fluent in a major global language are required to study another solely because their own is overlooked.

Considering these academic reasons, I respectfully seek that Tamil language be approved and added under the “Other Languages” category in Katy ISD. 

The Solution: Simple, Accessible, Well-established

The next steps for Katy ISD are refreshingly easy. Katy ISD already offers a wide range of world languages through its existing LOTE program and Avant Credit‑by‑Exam system, including Arabic, ASL, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, so incorporating Tamil requires no new curriculum or program development; only adding the language to the approved list.

Established exams, such as the Avant STAMP tests, are currently used by other Texas districts and follow all requirements outlined in Texas regulations (19 TAC §74.24) and the Texas Education Code (TEC §28.023). This means there are no state barriers stopping Katy ISD from adding Tamil. 

Even though the Avant STAMP 4S test isn’t available for Tamil, there is a straightforward alternative for languages less taught in the United States, that is already used in other Texas School Districts: the Avant STAMP 2S (WS) assessment. Districts such as Frisco ISD, Plano ISD, Austin ISD, Coppell ISD, Fort Bend ISD, and Houston ISD have all allowed or supported students to use Avant STAMP 2S tests for Tamil, when families request. Katy ISD could use the same well-established process, so Tamil‑speaking students have a fair and equal way to earn world‑language credit.  

The infrastructure is in place, and the community is eager. All that’s needed now is the recognition to make Tamil an official option for students. 

Why Katy ISD Should Act Now 

The Katy ISD Board holds full authority to add Tamil as an approved world language, a decision that would align district policy with global linguistic reality. By exercising this authority, the Board can recognize and support one of the most widely spoken heritage languages in the world. It would also promote academic fairness and equity, because students who speak Tamil should have the same opportunities as students whose home languages are already recognized by the district. Board adoption of Tamil would signal that Katy ISD values and reflects the cultural diversity within its classrooms. 

This decision would also honor and acknowledge the learning many students have already completed outside school and recognize the heritage of hundreds of Katy ISD families. Tamil deserves a place in the district’s curriculum, and the students who speak it deserve to see their identity recognized. 

What We Are Asking For 

We, the undersigned students, parents, educators, and community members, respectfully ask Katy ISD to: 

• Approve Tamil as an official world-language credit option, using an established proficiency exam such as Avant STAMP.
• Provide equitable academic recognition for students who are already fluent in a major world language. 

Sign this petition now to advocate for change and ensure that Katy ISD acts as soon as possible to ensure that Tamil, a significant world language, receives the recognition it deserves in our district’s language curriculum. 

Thousands of students speak it. Millions around the world share it. It’s time our district recognized it.