Schools Trim German Program as Interest Dwindles

Based on shifting student interests in the programs offered at local schools, the Port Washington-Saukville School Board approved a partial layoff of a German language teacher during an early morning meeting on Wednesday.

"In balancing our budget and because of student enrollment, we are looking at a partial layoff," Superintendent Michael Weber said during the 5:15 a.m. special board meeting. "There will be no other layoffs in the district."

The layoff will affect German Teacher Beth Brinkman, and her hours will drop to 60 percent of full-time employment. The approval allows for administrative staff to increase her employment to 72 percent if student enrollment levels change.

"The changes of that layoff percentage going down is pretty significant," Weber said.

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The Port Washington-Saukville School District offers German language classes at both the middle and high school, and has for several years, Weber said. Language classes also include Spanish, and more students have taken an interest in going that route.

The district's educational focus has also shifted to be more technological, according to an e-mail from Weber: 

"The Tech. Ed. programs at the middle school and high school have been steadily growing for the past three years. Manufacturers, industry and businesses have expressed an interest in partnering with the School District to help develop the skills necessary for a successful workforce. As a result of these partnerships with manufacturers such as Charter Steel, GenMet, Rockwell Automation, Molded Dimensions, and etc., opportunities for our students are expanding significantly."

The district added a tech ed teacher for the upcoming school year. They also plan to purchase iPads or Chromebooks for every middle and high school student — something that Weber said will play into the development of the district's language program.

"We are developing programming for 2014-15 to expand the foreign languages offered through online and virtual education," Weber said. "Therefore, in the future, students will be able to choose from a variety of foreign languages in addition to Spanish and German. The age of technology and our most recent technology upgrade related to personalized learning provide greater opportunities to meet varied student interests. We will be investigating and piloting this idea next year in preparation for 2014-2015."

The School Board met early Wednesday morning because of deadlines imposed by state statute, and board members schedules.