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Parents and educators urge Bristol-Warren committee to restore Spanish heritage course
Summary
Public commenters and staff told the Bristol-Warren Regional School Committee that removing the Spanish heritage language course will harm multilingual students; district leaders said low enrollment and scheduling constraints prompted the change but said the program could be reinstated if demand rises.
Parents, teachers and students asked the Bristol-Warren Regional School Committee on Feb. 9 to reverse the district27s decision to remove the Spanish heritage language course from the Mount Hope High School program of studies.
At public comment, a speaker identifying himself as Brian Schuster said the heritage class "belongs to our Spanish speaking students, so why would we take this opportunity away from them now?" He described the course as a language-arts program tailored to multilingual households and said eliminating it after two years of operation sent the wrong message to students who helped initiate the class.
Principal Anna King told the committee the decision followed review of course enrollments across the district and noted that the district had seen lower-than-expected registration for heritage courses this year. King said other districts with larger multilingual populations run more extensive heritage programs but that Mount Hope could add the class back if demand increases.
Committee members and public speakers pressed staff for more data. Several asked how the district gauges interest at feeder middle schools and whether scheduling or testing could better identify students who would benefit. King acknowledged a typo that omitted French 1 from a table in the packet and said the omission was not intentional.
King outlined options the district will pursue to support students who must meet new performance-based diploma requirements, including school-based work-based learning and internship pathways. She said the district would continue to monitor enrollment and could restore a heritage course if interest grows.
The committee did not take a vote on the program-of-studies changes at the Feb. 9 meeting. Next steps included staff follow-up on enrollment projections and a plan to communicate course options to families and middle-school students.
