Elkhart teacher asks board not to cut German program

A German teacher at Elkhart Community Schools told the school board during the public comment period that the district should not cancel its German course and asked trustees to either keep the program or restore it in a future year.

The teacher said she has taught German in the district for six years and described enrollment growth in recent years. "I have been the German teacher for Elkhart Community Schools for the last 6 years," she said. She told the board she was informed on March 28 there was a possibility the German program would be cut and that, when she returned on April 2, some students had already been scheduled not to have German next year.

The teacher provided enrollment counts for the upper-level classes: she said the German 2 class would have 21 students next year (not including German 1 or higher-level classes), the current German 3 class has eight students, and she expects German 3 enrollment of six students next year. She also said she has worked to grow the program and listed several regional colleges and universities that offer German, including Indiana University South Bend, the University of Notre Dame and Purdue University, among others, to emphasize postsecondary continuity.

"So I would like you to, take it into consideration and to, at some point either keep the German program or bring it back," she told the board during public comment.

Her remarks were part of the public comment period; the board did not take any formal action on the German program at the meeting.

Community members and school staff who want the district to continue German instruction have not been recorded as prompting a follow-up agenda item at this meeting.