To the editor:

We are strongly opposed to cutting ninth-grade German in Lawrence and losing two talented teachers. This will do irreparable harm to the district and our children, with impacts far beyond the German program.

We understand the budget crisis forces difficult choices to be made, but this should have been done in an open manner with public and expert input to determine which course and teacher cuts would do the least harm. Instead, this was decided by the junior high principals behind closed doors. Teachers were silenced, and parents were misled that German had the lowest enrollment, which is false according to the district’s own numbers.

This decision does not consider the devastating impact on our Eutin sister city exchange program and its students; it is unconscionable that one of only three course cuts (German, sewing, and photography) would be one that is the beginning of a multi-year sequence with far-ranging implications.

This cut also affects the stature and competitiveness of our children and the district, and we have learned that selective colleges and scholarship programs expect districts like Lawrence 497 to offer more than four years of three languages. This cut puts us at the bottom of other cities in Kansas and the Big 12.

We urge the school board to direct the junior high principals to look for an alternative to cutting German that does not affect the academic integrity of USD 497, and to reinstate German and the two teachers.