Garfield High School will be cutting two French classes next year due to funding restrictions. This cut comes one year after the administration decided to cut Garfield’s Spanish Heritage class and AP Spanish for the same reason.
Though this is a loss for Garfield it is substantially less than what other Seattle Public Schools are cutting due to budgeting restrictions and low enrollment. “Some [schools in SPS are] far, far worse than we are. In fact we were very fortunate because we had the PTSA funds to bridge the gap and we have some funds that were sort of leftover [from previous years],” said Garfield Principal Dr. Tarance Hart. “We could have lost two or three staff members, but fortunately we’re not losing staff members.”
Current French teacher Jessica Clayton disagrees. She explained that she will likely have to accept a full-time position at a different school to continue to support her family. “I don’t want to leave. I’m hopeful that that funding will be found before next school year, but in the meantime, I have to officially accept that other option,” she said.
Garfield administration did not want to make the cuts, but “this is the reality of having a budget deficit in a school district,” Hart said. “If we are not allocated the same number of [teachers by the district], then we have to cut and nobody is happy with that.”
Dr. Hart believes Garfield students who have begun taking French will be able to complete the pathway to French 3. However, Clayton has her doubts. “Students might be screwed as far as finding their college admission requirements of two years of the same language, or three years, in some cases,” she said. “It’s really disappointing that Garfield keeps getting hit in the same department.” Clayton also shed light on the fact that Garfield might have trouble finding a teacher who wants to fill the soon-to-be part-time position. “They might not even find a teacher that can do part-time,” she explained. “Above all, I just feel really frustrated for students.”
“It’s a decision that includes having a serious conversation with the counseling team… they are hyper-focused on ensuring that we have graduation pathways and students have the classes they need to graduate,” said Hart. “No matter where you deduct teacher units it’s going to have an impact on student schedules, so my responsibility is [asking] ‘OK, how can we lessen the impact of these reductions,’ because the reductions have to happen.”
What the future holds for language programs is not certain. Garfield is trying to secure more state and federal funding through grant programs, but those are not guaranteed. The district could see more decline in student enrollment next year resulting in more funding cuts or an increase in enrollment, resulting in a restoration of cut classes.
