Greater Latrobe plan to shift French, German instruction online draws protest

Greater Latrobe School Board this week approved a proposed $57.7 million budget for the 2021-22 school year with a recommended 1-mill tax hike.

But it was a plan for 2022-23 — the beginning of a gradual phase-out of in-person French and German language instruction at district secondary schools — that drew extensive protest at the board’s Tuesday meeting.

More than a dozen former and current students voiced objections to the district’s planned shift to online instruction in the two languages, one of them presenting a supporting petition with more than 1,700 signatures.

Many spoke of the positive impact their language studies have had on them and the enrichment they experienced on related trips abroad.

Spencer Simpson of Latrobe, a 2017 graduate, said he enjoyed a school-sponsored trip to Germany and neighboring countries during the summer before his senior year at Greater Latrobe.

“The cultural experiences I had there cannot be replicated by an online course,” he said.

Superintendent Georgia Teppert said district administrators are recommending the shift in French and German in response to declining student enrollment in those courses.

On the other hand, she said, the more popular Spanish language, which is desired by employers, is going to be expanded next fall to include an exploratory program for grades K-6.

“For the past several years, our student enrollment numbers in German and French have been declining,” Teppert said. “This recommendation has not been taken lightly. Discussions have occurred for several years with the world language department on strategies to promote the German and French languages in order to recruit additional students.”

Among grades 7-12, she reported, there are 112 students enrolled in German classes and 133 in French for the 2021-2022 school year, compared to 567 who will be taking Spanish.

She said all students who are enrolled in the French or German programs, or will begin them next year, will be able to progress normally through more advanced course levels. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, seventh graders will be limited to Spanish as a language option. When they reach ninth grade, if they want to pursue either of the other languages, they will have to do so online.

Teppert said a board vote on the move is not required because the programs are not being eliminated, nor are related teaching positions. She said French and German instructors don’t have a full schedule of language classes but are assisting in other subject areas including business.

Some suggested students may gravitate toward Spanish because it is considered easier to learn than the other languages. But one district graduate argued that having less common knowledge of German or French is a distinction than can be valuable when seeking employment.

Parent Tammy Bailey of Latrobe suggested exposing younger students to all of the major European languages, not just Spanish. “Give them a taste of the cultures of Europe at the elementary level,” she said.

Bailey said her son, who studies German, experienced a sharp decline in academic achievement when receiving online instruction during the covid-19 pandemic. She predicted online French and German lessons would be a failure for other students.

“You can’t get the dialect” in a remote learning format, she contended.

Teppert said administrators are exploring options outside of the district for students to continue in-person French and German instruction, perhaps through a partnership with a local community college.

Unity resident Will Brigaman predicted the shift to online instruction would lead to the eventual demise of the language programs. “Three or four years down the road, the language is dead, and you won’t be able to bring it back,” he said.