Oxford’s school district is continuing its push towards global learning with plans to further diversify the program, school officials say.

“The board is standing behind the international program,” Board President and Spokesperson Dan D’Alessandro told this reporter. “We have given the superintendent the ability to continue to pursue the international program. It is the board’s desire to continue the program in a way that makes it multicultural, meaning multi-country– as opposed to the way that it looks now.”

Although Superintendent Tim Throne stressed this is not a new focus for the board, it is one that the majority of the newly assembled board of education decided to continue upholding at a March 21 meeting.

However, there was one board member who did not share this viewpoint.

During a March 28 board meeting, Vice President Joyce Brasington voiced her disagreement with travel on the part of Superintendent Tim Throne and with an upcoming trip to India, meant to further develop the program.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t here (during the meeting)… but international travel got brought up and… the minutes reflect that the board does support those international relationships and travel, and I just wanted to go on record and say that I was not at (that) meeting and I do not support those international partnerships at this time,” said Brasington.

Brasington did not return calls seeking further comment.

Throne is set to travel to India on Saturday, April 8 through April 15.

According to Throne, the trip will be used as an opportunity to meet with interested school officials and parents to recruit a small group of around six students to join the Oxford International Program (OIP) in the fall.

The cost of the trip will be mostly paid for by the American Education & Exchange Association. According to Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Sam Barna, incidental travel expenses, totaling less than $500, are set to be covered by the district.

Throne’s international travel time throughout the school year will be limited to 5 percent, with trips stretching for no more than seven days in a row, to keep Oxford his top priority, D’Alessandro said.

“We want to make sure that our superintendent is going to be spending a strong majority of his time tending to the needs of the students in our district, but we also understand that in order to continue to be in the position that we are in financially… as well as continue offering a diverse curriculum and instruction environment that he needs to continue to grow it. We can’t let (the international program) just continue to go on ignored,” said D’Alessandro.

Although the board is looking to make the international program more diverse, this does not necessarily mean its goal is to increase the number of students in the program, according to D’Alessandro.

“We want to grow the program at a pace that makes sense. If that means keeping it where it’s at… then that’s what we’re going to do. We have no immediate plans to grow it much more than what it is. The program was intended to introduce our students to different cultures… and how people from different cultures think about things.

When (the program) gets so big that you don’t have the ability to let both sets of students get to know each other, it loses that. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to create something that meets both what our traditional students are looking for and what our international students are looking for,” he added.

According to Director of International Programs Chunchun Tang, Oxford’s international program currently hosts 39 students overall, with 37 of those students being from China.

“Right now, I would say that our international program is really viewed more as a Chinese program versus an international program… and we get that, because right now the majority of the students are Chinese,” Throne told this reporter. “We want to make it a more well-rounded international program that has students from various other countries.”