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http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/NEWS01/605050312
But Elmira district says class size wasn't big enough to keep program.
Broadway Middle School eighth-grader Courtney Grier didn't think she'd have a decision to make when it came time to pick the foreign language she'd study at Southside High School.
The 14-year-old long planned to take American Sign Language, a course she has been enrolled in since she was in sixth grade, to fulfill her language requirement, but that's no longer an option.
Elmira City School District officials decided not to offer American Sign Language next year at Southside or EFA, or to sixth- or eighth-graders at Ernie Davis or Broadway middle schools, although seventh-graders currently enrolled in ASL will be able to take the class next year as eighth-graders before it is eliminated entirely.
School district officials cited the need to balance educational and financial priorities, and the low number of students enrolled in ASL, as major factors in their decision.
They noted that Gov. George Pataki's senior tax rebate proposal has put pressure on school boards statewide to keep next year's tax levy increase below 4 percent. The likely tax levy increase associated with the school district's proposed $99.8 million 2006-07 school-year budget is 3.5 percent.
School board President Michael Crimmins estimated that cutting two full-time ASL teaching positions would free about $100,000 annually to be used for other school programs.
Beyond financial considerations, school district officials also said they were concerned about the low number of students enrolled in the language. ASL enrollment at Broadway and Ernie Davis middle schools, Southside High School and Elmira Free Academy this school year totals 267, while enrollment in Spanish courses at those schools was nearly seven times that, at 1,826, school district figures show.
The difficulty in finding appropriately certified instructors to teach the classes was also something school officials said they took into consideration when they decided to cut ASL, which was first introduced in the district to middle school students in the 2002-03 school year and in the high schools last school year.
Still, Grier and other students said they were disappointed to learn they'd no longer be able to take the class to which they'd already devoted time, and that they were concerned the cut would create a greater a barrier between deaf and hearing students.
“I wasn't happy about it at all,” said Grier, who on Wednesday addressed the issue at an Elmira school board meeting.
Grier's grandmother, Lynda Grier, also said she was disappointed to learn her granddaughter would no longer be able to study ASL in school.
“All language benefits you,” she said. “It's something she and a lot of kids have an interest in.”
Likewise, parent Jeanine Woodruff, whose daughter, Marissa, is an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Broadway Middle School, also said she was concerned about the cut.
Marissa is deaf, and although she reads lips, her mother said she is worried that it will be harder for her classmates to communicate with her.
Local advocates for the deaf also said there are several benefits to offering ASL in schools.
Such courses offer a unique perspective into a different culture without having to leave the country, noted Kelley Crocker, a deaf services advocate at AIM Independent Living Center.
Crocker estimated that about 1,000 Chemung County residents know ASL because they have taken classes or have learned it from a family member or friend, and said it is the fourth most popular language in the United States.
Crimmins said he understands how the students and their families feel because in recent years two of his daughters were enrolled in other district language classes — Latin and German — that were cut
“Unfortunately, sometimes hard decisions need to be made,” he said.
Grier has decided that she will try to find a way to continue to practice and learn more sign on her own. She plans to keep up her knowledge online.
In the meantime, she has decided to take Spanish next school year.
But Elmira district says class size wasn't big enough to keep program.
Broadway Middle School eighth-grader Courtney Grier didn't think she'd have a decision to make when it came time to pick the foreign language she'd study at Southside High School.
The 14-year-old long planned to take American Sign Language, a course she has been enrolled in since she was in sixth grade, to fulfill her language requirement, but that's no longer an option.
Elmira City School District officials decided not to offer American Sign Language next year at Southside or EFA, or to sixth- or eighth-graders at Ernie Davis or Broadway middle schools, although seventh-graders currently enrolled in ASL will be able to take the class next year as eighth-graders before it is eliminated entirely.
School district officials cited the need to balance educational and financial priorities, and the low number of students enrolled in ASL, as major factors in their decision.
They noted that Gov. George Pataki's senior tax rebate proposal has put pressure on school boards statewide to keep next year's tax levy increase below 4 percent. The likely tax levy increase associated with the school district's proposed $99.8 million 2006-07 school-year budget is 3.5 percent.
School board President Michael Crimmins estimated that cutting two full-time ASL teaching positions would free about $100,000 annually to be used for other school programs.
Beyond financial considerations, school district officials also said they were concerned about the low number of students enrolled in the language. ASL enrollment at Broadway and Ernie Davis middle schools, Southside High School and Elmira Free Academy this school year totals 267, while enrollment in Spanish courses at those schools was nearly seven times that, at 1,826, school district figures show.
The difficulty in finding appropriately certified instructors to teach the classes was also something school officials said they took into consideration when they decided to cut ASL, which was first introduced in the district to middle school students in the 2002-03 school year and in the high schools last school year.
Still, Grier and other students said they were disappointed to learn they'd no longer be able to take the class to which they'd already devoted time, and that they were concerned the cut would create a greater a barrier between deaf and hearing students.
“I wasn't happy about it at all,” said Grier, who on Wednesday addressed the issue at an Elmira school board meeting.
Grier's grandmother, Lynda Grier, also said she was disappointed to learn her granddaughter would no longer be able to study ASL in school.
“All language benefits you,” she said. “It's something she and a lot of kids have an interest in.”
Likewise, parent Jeanine Woodruff, whose daughter, Marissa, is an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Broadway Middle School, also said she was concerned about the cut.
Marissa is deaf, and although she reads lips, her mother said she is worried that it will be harder for her classmates to communicate with her.
Local advocates for the deaf also said there are several benefits to offering ASL in schools.
Such courses offer a unique perspective into a different culture without having to leave the country, noted Kelley Crocker, a deaf services advocate at AIM Independent Living Center.
Crocker estimated that about 1,000 Chemung County residents know ASL because they have taken classes or have learned it from a family member or friend, and said it is the fourth most popular language in the United States.
Crimmins said he understands how the students and their families feel because in recent years two of his daughters were enrolled in other district language classes — Latin and German — that were cut
“Unfortunately, sometimes hard decisions need to be made,” he said.
Grier has decided that she will try to find a way to continue to practice and learn more sign on her own. She plans to keep up her knowledge online.
In the meantime, she has decided to take Spanish next school year.