More teachers needed for French classes

Parents of students in French Immersion programs at three Cecilia schools were told last week that a shortage of qualified French teachers is making it difficult to fully staff the program at Cecilia Jr. High.
A group of concerned parents attended last week’s school board meeting to call attention to a possible decrease in French Immersion teachers at Cecilia Jr. High from three to just one for the 2017-18 session.
The French Immersion program has been in the Cecilia school district for more than 20 years and enables interested students to be taught in French from kindergarten through grade 8.
But parents, especially those with children just entering Cecilia Jr. High (grades 6-8), say there is no way one teacher can handle the projected enrollment in the program.
But they also heard of difficulties in recruiting qualified French teachers.
Peggy Feehan, a language education specialist with CODOFIL responsible for securing teachers from France and Belgium to work in local classrooms, said there has been a serious drop off in the number of European teachers interested in coming to the United States.
Feehan pointed out that during her recruiting visits to France and Belgium last year she interviewed 110 teachers in France and 50 in Belgium.
But on her recent trip only 66 from France showed an interest and just 12 from Belgium.
“That’s a big decrease,” she emphasized.
She also referenced results of a recent statewide, standardized test administered to all French Immersion students across the state.
While the statewide score was 99.9 percent, scores in Cecilia schools ranged from 41 to 75 percent.
“When there’s a shortage of teachers,” she said, “we have to prioritize the (more successful) programs.”
Several parents who addressed the board offered their support to continuing the program at Cecilia Jr. High.
“What can we do to provide the right tools to the Cecilia Jr. High administration?” asked Curt Taylor. “Having just one French teacher for three grades is not setting up the program for success.”
Rebecca Lanclos, president of the parent-teacher group Le Reveil du Français, said the organization has been raising money and wants to work with the administration to make sure students receive proper instruction.
Superintendent Dr. Lottie P. Beebe told board members she has met with parents and stressed that “We will make every effort to secure certified teachers.”
“But,” she added, “there is a problem in finding certified teachers. CODOFIL has provided teachers for our program in the past, but we were notified in March that we would be only getting one teacher instead of three (for CJH). The shortage is critical, the resources are just not there.”
Board members Floyd Knott and Aaron Flegeance both expressed support for the French Immersion program.
“I think we can find (at least) one (more) teacher for the junior high,” Knott commented.
Although there are efforts underway to develop more certified foreign language teachers from Louisiana, it was pointed out that this cannot be accomplished overnight and will take several years to develop.
Board members did agree to fund an additional French teacher at CJH over and above the normal faculty allocation.