French, German classes to continue for at least 1 more year in Greater Latrobe schools

Advocates of French and German language programs at Greater Latrobe School District have gained a one-year reprieve before administrators consider shifting instruction from in-person to online.

Relatively low district enrollment in French and German courses, compared to Spanish, prompted Superintendent Georgia Teppert to announce in May a proposal to phase out classroom lessons in the two languages beginning in the 2022-23 school year.

This week, Teppert said the district will delay any move to remote instruction until the following school year.

“We’ll continue the status quo for French and German for the 2022-23 school year,” she told the school board.

“It will give another year for our German and French instructors to work to promote their programs,” Teppert said.

Under a district plan proposed this past summer, students entering seventh grade in 2022-23 would have been limited to Spanish as a world language option — with French or German available beginning in ninth grade through online instruction or a potential partnership with an area college.

Incoming seventh graders now will be allowed next year to enroll in French, German or Spanish.

Teppert reported 567 students in grades 7-12 were enrolled in Spanish courses this year, compared with 133 in French and 112 in German.

French instructor Jan Stewart, retired world language department chair at Hempfield Area School District and an adjunct professor at Seton Hill University, has agreed to work with Greater Latrobe faculty on strategies for increasing enrollment, Teppert said.

Stewart, who also is past president of the Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association, has pointed out that 22% of more than 6,000 foreign-owned businesses in the state are from German-speaking countries and 28% are from French-speaking countries — compared with fewer than 1% from Spanish-speaking countries.