School's Spanish proposal hits snag

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Schools Spanish proposal hits snag

By Jennifer White, Greenville Daily Reflector - Greenville, NC, USA

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Concerns about equity, affordability and course structure stalled
discussion Monday of an elementary schools Spanish language program.
Superintendent Beverly Reep introduced two proposals during Monday's
meeting for phasing in the program over a two-year period, beginning fall
2006. The program would start with kindergarten and add one grade each
year through fifth grade. Reep said that foreign language programs have
been proven to improve student achievement, especially in reading. "I
think my motivation to get this on the table is that it would be yet
another strategy to help our students as developing readers," she said.
"It would also set us apart as a district that has taken on the expense to
do something that's attractive and offers more for our students."

The program was originally targeted at Greenville's five elementary
schools, but concerns about fairness sent the plan back to the drawing
board. Reep's first proposal for implementation puts the program in two
schools in each of the six attendance areas the first year and then adding
the remaining elementary schools the second year. "If we use that strategy
to try to kick this off, in some attendance areas, all kindergartners
would have an opportunity for the program, and in other areas, it would be
a portion or fraction of the students," Reep said.

A second proposal puts the program the first year at elementary schools
that did not meet progress goals last year, have a high percentage of
Hispanic students or have 70 percent or more students that get free or
reduced lunch. Five schools meet all three criteria and an additional four
meet two of those. Under that proposal, no elementary schools in the South
Central attendance area would have the program its first year. "Starting
small like that would give us an easier way to finance this on the front
end and measure success in the first couple of years," Reep said. Board
members said that they were concerned about how the school system would
fund the program for all schools. Reep has estimated that the program
would cost $200,000 the first year and $500,000 by the third year.

"It sounds like something I would strongly support, but looking ahead six
years from now, when we have it K-5 in every school in the county, will we
be able to afford it?" board member Dick Tolmie said. Reep said she plans
to fund the plan the first year by redirecting some of the school system's
current funds and soliciting for grants. Long-term funding sources would
have to be determined. The federal government also offers some funding for
foreign language programs. The board also wanted to know how the program
could fit into the elementary curriculum while still allowing enough
instructional time for other subjects. The board considered several
different models for the program, each one teaching different skills and
providing different levels of immersion in the language.

Board member Jill Camnitz added that the school system already funds
programs aimed at improving students' reading skills. "We have some fairly
high-dollar programs in place that already address reading achievement,"
she said. "I'd like to take a look at how this fits into all the other
things we're doing as well and not look at this in isolation. " The board
agreed to let the Educational Programs and Services Committee and the
Finance Committee review the program before any action is taken.

[..]

Jennifer White can be contacted at jewhite at coxnc.com and 329-9571.

http://www.reflector.com/local/content/news/stories/2006/03/07/20060307GDRschoolsspanish.html