No Mandarin Instruction at SMS in 2016-2017

In a marathon meeting that ended at midnight, The Board of Education discussed and voted against adding Mandarin to the middle school language offerings for the coming school year. A passionate group of parents raised the issue during the 2015-16 budgeting process, which led the Board to include a world language review in their 2015-18 Transition Plan. In order to assess interest in adding Mandarin to the curriculum, the administration sent out a series of surveys to Scarsdale parents in October. Though the surveys indicated strong interest in adding Mandarin, the administration and board agreed that more study was needed before implementing a new program at the middle school level.

The meeting was standing room only with many community members who have spoken in support of Mandarin returning to the microphone to make their case before the Board vote. During a lengthy period for public comment many residents and a few students spoke fervently about the district's language offerings. Quite a few of the parents appeared to be speaking English as a second language and were not necessarily proficient in Mandarin. However, all agreed about the importance of teaching Mandarin in the schools. They acknowledged that many children from Chinese families attend afterschool or weekend Chinese language programs and that the program in the Scarsdale schools would benefit a wider group. Parents argued that the Chinese economy is second in the world, that learning Mandarin widens students' global perspective and that Scarsdale was falling behind other districts where Mandarin is already offered. They emphasized the need to begin instruction at a young age.

Superintendent Thomas Hagerman provided the rationale behind the administrations recommendation not to add Mandarin at the middle school at this time.

He reviewed language choices at the high school where a four-year Mandarin program has failed to garner significant enrollment. According to Hagerman, at SHS Latin is taken by 3.65% of students, Mandarin 4.78%, French 22% and Spanish 70%.

He continued, saying, "This is not about adding a class and a book. There are real challenges ... we would need a rigorous curriculum review process and we would need to hire the right staff. We have a set number of kids and would need to adjust the staffing. He then restated the administration's recommendation to "uphold our position that any successful implementation of Mandarin requires the following: A wider understanding of student interest and participation, a deeper consideration of a Middle School developmentally appropriate program sequence, as well as a clearer sense of related staffing and system considerations."

He discussed the challenges of implementing a new program and the shortcomings of the current Mandarin program at SHS. He said, "We need a highly qualified teacher with a specialty in curriculum development with good English who understands middle school kids. We started off with 50 kids in the high school program, dropped to 18, then 16, and then rebounded to over 20 students. There is so much variability. We have had kids tackle the most difficult courses in the sciences, but have not had the same experience with Mandarin in the high school."

Hagerman contended that more information was needed from students and parents and that the school needed to learn more about how many students would actually enroll in Mandarin classes and why participation is now so low at the high school. He also said that the elementary school PTA's offered Mandarin as an afterschool club, and though there was initially high interest, it waned.

Other obstacles include the difficulty of the learning the language, scheduling around the four-house system in the middle school and the potential need for daily rather than alternating day language classes and a language lab.

Each Board member spoke individually on the issues and all were in agreement that research was needed to determine the best way to teach this difficult language and to determine the optimal grade at which instruction should begin. Board members mentioned several times during discussion that this budget year will be very challenging given a tax cap projected to be at or near zero as well as a desire to fully focus on the goals laid out in the 2015-2018 transition plan.

Board members cited concern about the ability to bring a quality, fully sequenced curriculum to SMS in such a short time frame, whether the demonstrated level of student interest justifies the addition of Mandarin, concern about lackluster participation in the high school program, challenges to implementing the program within the existing house system and 6th grade alternate day language instruction schedule, the desire to focus finances, intellectual capital and resources on more developed programs to which the district already committed (and in some cases have physical space designed and built around) such as STE(a)M, coding, and early literacy initiatives.

They all acknowledged the participation and work by community members to bring the question to the board and indicated that the administration would continue to study how best to teach world languages to all district students.

Suzanne Seiden, who is serving for her sixth year on the board said, "I appreciate your input, participation, and your passion on this issue. Thank you for speaking up and out. We have listened to your views and you have made a great case. Our job is to listen and weigh the information. I was on the board when we added Mandarin to the high school. It takes years. We want to do it right. We have more work to do before adding Mandarin at the Middle School. Now is not the time to do it. We are implementing the superintendent's transition plan and the STEAM curriculum. I support the administration's recommendation to create a world language committee and incorporate those recommendations into the next strategic plan. I encourage you to keep participating and pushing us to make it happen."

William Natbony said, "The reports and emails from the administration and the community have been well researched. I have carefully reviewed all the information.
I have a fiduciary responsibility to the community and I must balance diverse interests when considering issues such as this one.... There is no denying the importance of Mandarin today ... and no disputing that it's tough to teach and to learn.... It has to be taught in the right way, otherwise it will be a careless waste of our resources. I believe that it will be a part of our program, but that doesn't mean that we should rush to add it next year. It must be evaluated in light of the program as a whole. I encourage the board to work collaboratively to reach the right answers.
We should not rush a program through for the middle school for next year. One of our goals is a district-wide review of world language program....The new committee will allow consideration of the broader issues. My view is that we should not move forward at this time.

Chris Morin said, "I support adding Mandarin when we have student driven demand, commitment and excellence so I don't support moving forward next year. Many of the initiatives we have planned involve 4000 students, not 60. This is the wrong time to shift priorities."

Scott Silberfein said, "I believe we should better prepare our students for the future, not just in world language but in all areas. .. As a parent I would say yes to Mandarin. But as a board member we have to worry about what would make the most meaningful impact on all of our students. I would ask the administration to plan for the future."

Pam Fuehrer reviewed the curricular goals in the transition plan and said, "The stated goals of the transition plan are paramount. Nothing but critical situations should remove district leadership from this work plan. Reviewing the world language is a goal, but adding a Mandarin is not. The rush could easily compromise quality."

Art Rublin: Thank everyone for their input and for Ms. Maude responding to each of the emails the district received.... When it comes to significant decisions, the buck stops with the board. I find the argument to add Mandarin compelling, but I find that it is premature to add it. I agree with the administration's questions.

Board President Leila Shames Maude outlined her reasons for supporting the administration's recommendation not to add Mandarin in the Middle School for the 2016-17 academic year. She said, "It's not clear that we have demonstrated interest in Mandarin, given the "tepid results from rollout in the high school." She added, "I am not sure we know how to properly teach this language. ...I hope we can determine when is the right time to begin instruction...I don't want to see us set up to fail. It's going to take more time and it's time well worth spending to do it right."

The Board and Administration acknowledged the importance of Mandarin in the current world economy and their desire to be able to provide a high quality Mandarin program in the middle school pending further research. To that end, the Administration has proposed the formation of a World Language Team to study Scarsdale's language programs, and with regard to Mandarin provide more details on implementation if added. Any recommendations for changes, new language offerings, etc. would be part of the next Transition Plan for 2018-2021.

Following the vote, the disappointment in the room was palpable, with the issue coming to closure after many months of lobbying by a very committed group of Scarsdale parents who were hoping for a different outcome. Julie Zhu wondered what will change by the time Mandarin is considered in the board's 2018-2021 plan. She said, "Mandarin will still be a difficult language to learn, the house system will still be in place, and it will still be difficult to hire Mandarin teachers."

Mayra Kirkendall Rodriguez wrote in an email, "The Mandarin in the Middle School Initiative Team and I are very disappointed that yet again implementing Mandarin in the Middle School has been delayed. We thank the Board for reading our memo and parents' letters, and for individually explaining to the Scarsdale community why each one voted against Mandarin inclusion for the Fall of 2016. We urge the Administration to publicly state when this new world language committee to study all language instruction will be assembled, what foreign language fluency objectives it will analyze, who will be in the committee, and what foreign language fluency level the members will have. It is very important to include a multilingual parent in the committee. Transparency from the administration in the new committee's objectives and Mandarin implementation timeline is critical to the Scarsdale community."

Bob Berg also contributed his view supporting the administration's decision:

"I was happy to see the very large number of Chinese and other Asian residents (as well as many others) who attended the meeting and spoke eloquently and from the heart in favor of extending Mandarin down to the Middle School. As Dr. Hagerman noted, most School Board meetings are attended by a "faithful few" members of the public. It is important to engage many segments of the population in school matters, especially groups which have not, in the past, been outspoken in the public discourse. That being said, I agree with the Administration's decision not to implement Mandarin in the Middle School next year. Too many challenging, unresolved issues remain – the Mandarin program in the high school is faltering, with a high drop out rate; no one really knows the extent of student and parent interest in a long term commitment to studying this very difficult language; we don't really know yet how best to teach the subject; and the costs of the expansion are not insubstantial . Moreover, the Administration has a full platter of challenges right now – major renovations and construction at the schools; figuring out what to do about the Greenacres elementary school; and putting together an acceptable budget that comes in below the tax cap in a year with zero inflation, among other major issues. So, even though the Board's decision last night not to proceed on the Mandarin front was painfully disappointing to many in attendance, it was the right decision. While many in attendance may think that the Board just kicked the can down the road again, I believe that the Administration and the Board will study the issue deeply and in good faith, in the context of reviewing and improving our entire foreign language program. Those in favor of the Mandarin expansion should engage with the Administration, and the Administration should welcome the insights and wealth of knowledge of our Mandarin-speaking community members."

The details behind the Administration's recommendations can be found as part of the meeting agenda packet available here. The entire meeting with community comments and each Board member's individual statement on these issues can be viewed on the Scarsdale Schools' video-on-demand site. The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 13, 2016.

A Dobbs Terrace father told the board that this was his third meeting on the topic of Mandarin, in the same room with the same people. He drew a laugh when he said, "One of my favorite movies is Groundhog Day." He warned, "Unless you give them what they want you will hear the same thing over and over."