York Town News
Foreign language program, fuel costs top School Committee discussions
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - With the local budget review season soon to begin and questions looming about cuts that could be mandated by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights funding formula if it wins voter support, the School Committee heard updates on issues with budget implications.The School Committee met on Wednesday, Oct. 18, to first hear a presentation from the York School Department Foreign Language Task Force on a proposal regarding Foreign Language for Elementary Students (FLES). A similar request was turned down by voters at the polls back in May, prompting the task force look at the curriculum goals in grades K-12 and the state mandates for proficiency in a second language that are coming down the pike from Augusta within the next three to six years.
York School Department Curriculum Coordinator Dr. Maryann Minard described goal of an integrated K-12 second language curriculum with a vision for proficiency as well as increased understanding of world culture. The program, she explained, will be based on Maine Learning Results standards as well as national standards set by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
"Our young students are just like sponges," Minard said, noting studies have shown that children can become fluent in a second language, when beginning in kindergarten, to the level that a native speaker cannot discern any difference in their accent.
Teacher Nancy Stevens reviewed the progress in the effort since 2001. Currently, students study either Spanish 1, French 1 or German 1 over two years in seventh and eighth grade at York Middle School, and begin with French 2, Spanish 2 or German 2 when they reach York High School.
"We can't imagine what it would be if we had a FLES program in place," Stevens said of the progress in language that has already occurred by beginning study in the upper middle school grades.
The key to the FLES program, Stevens and her fellow foreign language teachers agreed, is to find a highly qualified and experienced educator of near-native or native fluency who is able to work with students at elementary level to align curriculum.
"Learning a second language actually reinforces that first language acquisition," she said of the integration of foreign language into the curriculum in place in the K-2 grades currently.
The proposal would include salary and benefits for one teacher in the 2007 school year for grades K through 2, followed by the request for the addition of half-time posts to expand the program for third and fourth grade in the subsequent years.
"Cultural understanding, I think, is one of the really important things of starting a language early," Stevens said of the effort to begin with the town's youngest students.
Language teachers Patty Chappelle and Stephanie Carbonneau highlighted the reasons behind learning specific languages, from Mandarin Chinese to French, Spanish, German or Latin, as one of the lingering questions is which language would be best to present to the voters, or whether the School Committee, if it supports FLES as part of the fiscal 2008 budget, should recommend a program that would be based on the qualifications of the teacher secured to fill the position, with the language to be determined at that time.
The School Committee members agreed that introduction of a foreign language at the elementary level is an important curriculum move, but decided not to take formal action on a proposal until later in the annual budget preparation process.
Also at the meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione highlighted the latest enrollment data, which shows a drop of about five percent, or 105 students, from 2005. School Committee members hypothesized one of the causes is the lack of affordable housing in the area, as Scipione noted similar trends in Kittery and Wells.
The drop is distributed across all grades, Scipione said, which means the administration will need to look at whether positions could be cut to save costs without significantly increasing class sizes.
"At this point, it's something that was surprising to me because I just didn't expect it to be this significant," he said.
Assistant to the Superintendent Jim Amoroso then updated the School Committee on the fuel contract review. Earlier this year, the School Department secured a fuel bid of $2.33 per gallon from Hanscom's in Portsmouth, N.H., only to see prices dropping lower as winter nears. Amoroso met with Buzzy Hanscom, who explained there was no way to negotiate a lower price on the contract at this time, based on factors such as the purchase of oil at the time the bid was secured.
Amoroso pointed out this is the first time in about a decade that the School Department has been on the high side of the price of oil after securing an early bid, and some committee members commented that, following the election in November, the town might see those fuel costs climbing once again.
In other business, the board recognized Andrea Winslow of York Adult and Community Education, who was recently honored with as the outstanding support staff employee for adult education statewide.
