Parents and Spanish teachers press West Valley to restore second world language as district adopts German materials

Parents and Spanish teachers urged the West Valley School District Board on May 27, 2025, to commit funding and a hiring plan to restore a second world-language offering beyond Spanish for grades 8–12, saying current staffing choices limit student options. The district’s instructional materials committee recommended German instructional materials even as hiring for a part-time German position stalled.

Two West Valley High School Spanish teachers spoke during the meeting’s public-comment section. Jennifer Nelson, who identified herself as a Spanish teacher at the high school for 25 years and a parent, urged the district to “prioritize funding for this position as soon as possible” and said the current 0.6 FTE posting “will honestly make it extremely difficult to attract a qualified candidate from outside our region.”

Janae Larson, another Spanish teacher, said the 0.6 part-time German posting had closed with zero applicants and that the department had developed three alternate options to sustain another language but had not seen a district commitment. “There does not seem to be any commitment to embrace having another language other than Spanish being taught here,” Larson said, and she warned that the lack of offerings can push students to other districts.

In an earlier agenda response to public comment, Superintendent Dr. Finch told the board the administration had met with world-language teachers and that “currently, the district has a job posting for a part time German teacher. The position was posted part time due to student enrollment.” His response continued, “In the future, if student enrollment were to increase, the district would increase staffing to meet the student needs.”

The instructional materials package before the board included new materials for languages and English-language arts. Dr. Finch told the board the district wanted to adopt German curricular materials so that, should a qualified teacher be hired, the instructor could use approved materials immediately. Instructional committee notes presented at the meeting list Authentico (Spanish), Azulejo (AP Spanish literature) and German materials among the recommended adoptions. The board-approved instructional materials were reported by staff as having been recommended unanimously by the Instructional Materials Committee; the board later voted to approve the instructional materials package during the meeting.

Board members and staff discussed recruitment challenges and the district’s budget and staffing processes. The public speakers cited research showing academic and cognitive benefits of world-language study and asked the district to treat world-language staffing with the same priority the district has shown for other specialized programs in years when enrollments dipped.

The board took formal action to approve instructional materials listed in the packet; the hiring status of any new language teacher was not decided at the meeting. District staff said they would continue to pursue recruitment options and consider the department’s alternate proposals if the part-time posting does not fill.

No statutory or policy changes were approved specifically tied to world-language staffing at this meeting; the instructional materials adoption clears curriculum for use if a teacher is hired.