Site Council passed a motion that stated its support of the French 5/5AP class without funding the under-enrolled class.

In a private vote, Site Council members supported the proposition by parent and co-chair Anne Avis to refer the request by students interested in French 5/5AP and their parents to an alternative source: Partners in Education funds.

Principal Scott Laurence said that the 5/5AP class would likely qualify for PiE money.

“It’s a perfect example of a PiE fundable elective grant,” Laurence said.

However, PiE funds have already been allocated for the 07-08 school year. PiE funds are given to the school in a lump sum to be then distributed by the principal. Funding the French program means that other programs could suffer. Site Council would pay for some programs that would have been funded by PiE, suggested Avis.

Site Council members, though supportive of the program, have two major worries. The council’s goal state that it is to focus on “new and innovative” programs and technology – Site Council originally funded the ARC, for example. Funding an established, but under-enrolled class does not fit into the council’s goals.

According to Site Council coordinator Edie Miller, the organization has never before funded an established course.

“Usually, requests are for pilots of programs that have never happened before,” Miller said. “This is a whole new thing. Site council is more for people and programs, while PTSA tends to fund ‘stuff.'”

However, this could have been overlooked if not for the dangerous issue of precedent. As in the justice system, previous actions are often consulted when the council faces difficult decisions. Acting in a way that deviates from Site Council’s usual course could have repercussions in future years. Site Council members worry that funding the French program could lead to inundation by requests to fund other “singleton” classes (classes that only have enough enrollment for one class period).

Avis, along with the majority of Site Council, expressed her support for the program, but felt Site Council should not fund it.

“We’re standing by the curriculum to the extent we can,” Avis said.

AP Environmental Science teacher Kenyon Scott agreed, clarifying Avis’s intent.

“A vote in favor – a yes – means that Site Council demonstrates its wholehearted support,” Scott said. “However, Site Council is not the appropriate funding source, and so this should be shifted to the appropriate secondary funding.”

This decision was the last of the spring funding requests.