Spanish lessons are going away for 色多多 elementary school students next school year, one result of a difficult budget situation for the city and its school system.
For Tim Wimer鈥檚 second-grade granddaughter at Garden City Elementary, Spanish lessons are her favorite time of the week, he told the school board during a meeting earlier this spring.
The board meets Tuesday evening to vote on a school budget that would discontinue, 鈥渁t least for the foreseeable future,鈥 the elementary Spanish program that provides 30 minutes of language instruction per week to K-5 students, according to school board documents.
A combination of state and city mandates necessitated the cuts. Also, federal funds from the pandemic era are all dried up, further adding to the strain.
The 13 elementary Spanish teachers are being reassigned to fill English learner positions required, but only partly funded, by new state standards.
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In addition, the city council has paused a long-used funding agreement and held flat its allocations to the school system for the upcoming year.
For those reasons, Wimer鈥檚 granddaughter will have to bid adios to her favorite class.
鈥淚 asked my granddaughter why she loves learning Spanish so much,鈥 Wimer said. 鈥淪he told me that it allows her to communicate with her neighborhood friends when she's playing.鈥
Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken in the United States, according to census data. In 色多多, one in 10 households use a language other than English at home, and the city鈥檚 Latino population is growing, census data shows.
鈥淪he is not only learning Spanish. She is actually applying it in school,鈥 Wimer said. 鈥淭hat's huge.鈥
Starting in the fall, 色多多 schools are required to have more English learner positions. Whereas the state previously required schools to hire one English learner teacher for every 50 students, updated regulations now require one teacher for as few as every 20 students, depending on students鈥 English proficiency levels.
鈥淎pproximately 40 new EL teachers would need to be added to remain compliant with state standards and keep our schools accredited,鈥 the budget document reads.
There are other changes brought about by this budget, but the main difference is the closure of the elementary Spanish program, the budget document said.
鈥淭he ability for these teachers to transition more seamlessly into an EL teaching position is a primary reason why this program was tapped to help the division meet this unprecedented need,鈥 the document said.
The school system expects to receive $272 million in revenue, including $150 million from the state, $107 million from the city, and $27 million in federal grants.
Tight budget conditions require the school system to dip into its fund balance, an account set aside for what officials have described as 鈥渞ainy day鈥 situations like this. The system is using $10.3 million from its fund balance to shore up operations for next school year, documents show.
Superintendent Verletta White said that amount represents a significant use of the fund balance.
White
鈥淚t's one-time funding, so we're talking about a temporary fix for ongoing expenses, which is not our typical practice,鈥 White said. 鈥淲e do need to keep all of that in mind for the next fiscal season and beyond, because there will be a cliff effect when it comes to the fund balance.鈥
The school board meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at its newly renovated administration building at 201 Campbell Ave. S.W.
