Glendale Unified looks to maintain FLAG programs — for now
Glendale school officials stepped back last week from a plan that staff proposed earlier this month that would have consolidated some language-immersion programs at local middle schools.
After hearing from parents who’d hoped that Glendale Unified would maintain the programs as they are, school officials offered a short-term fix as they begin to focus on a long-term plan.
Earlier this month, Glendale Unified staff suggested making changes to the Foreign Language Academies of Glendale — or FLAG — program.
At Monte Vista Elementary, where 32 students study Korean in the sixth grade, half said they’d enroll in the program at Rosemont Middle School, which spurred officials to suggest having those students attend Toll Middle School instead.
Elsewhere, staff members suggested that students who studied Armenian at Jefferson and R.D. White elementary schools continue at Wilson Middle School only, instead of Wilson and Toll.
After parents weighed in on the proposal, officials backed away from those plans, which would have saved Glendale Unified $200,000 annually.
Under a new proposal, a short-term remedy would be to keep the FLAG program as is for the 2017-18 school year, except for one component — the German program.
If the three students studying German at Roosevelt Elementary were each given a permit to enroll in an existing German class at Crescenta Valley High, the district would save $100,000 a year, with no need to hire a German teacher at Hoover High.
School officials suggested reviewing the entire FLAG secondary program in the fall, creating an advisory FLAG committee and boosting the marketing of the programs.
School board member Greg Krikorian said parents could also look into establishing a foundation specific to FLAG.
“Where are we going to get the dollars to house a program that supports four or eight kids?” he asked.
While the language programs remain popular at the elementary level, fewer middle school students are choosing to enroll in them, according to school officials.
In one case, as few as three students at Franklin Elementary said they will continue studying Italian at Roosevelt Middle School in the fall.
More than 60 students who were part of the FLAG program signed up for other electives in middle school, said Sherry Kully, a coordinator for student support services at Glendale Unified.
Roosevelt Middle School is the only middle school in Glendale to offer seven periods, and one idea is to offer seven periods at the other middle schools, so students who enroll in a FLAG language can take an additional elective.
The inability to take an elective beyond a foreign language at Rosemont Middle School is what La Crescenta parent Jimmy Kim said his daughter is unhappy about, although she will continue to study Korean there during the coming school year.
He said he’s heard other parents say their children do not want to continue with the FLAG program in middle school because they are unable to take another elective.
“Giving an option, I think, is much better than not having an option,” Kim said.
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
