By Olly Constantine,
Staff Writer.
Last year, Santa Rosa High School’s longtime French teacher Dara Carelle took a leave of absence in the middle of the school year and didn’t return this year. After a series of substitute teachers the French program still lacks a permanent teacher despite Dr. Mark Ryan’s best efforts to find one.
The main reason it has been so difficult to find a permanent teacher is that many of the applicants aren’t fully qualified, and those who are qualified don’t want to work a part-time position. In order to hire a teacher in California applicants must meet the Basic Skills Requirements by either taking an exam or attending a United States Accredited Regional University. However, the applicants that Dr. Ryan has interviewed so far either don’t have that qualification or don’t have a degree in French.
Enrollment in the class has also been an issue. “There are people who would like to work full time, but we don’t have enough students to have a full-time position. It’s only three periods a day, so finding someone who only wants to work 60% of the time who is fully qualified has proven to be very difficult,” said Dr. Ryan.
Initially, Dr. Ryan suggested to the district that SRHS should not offer French 1 this year due to his concern about finding someone fully qualified. He proposed to let the program phase out but have students enrolled in French 2, 3 and 4 continue their studies through the Santa Rosa Junior College or through online courses elsewhere, but the district denied his proposal.
Even if a qualified French teacher isn’t found it doesn’t seem like the class will be going away anytime soon. Luckily, the current long term substitute teacher is fluent in French, and Dr. Ryan has said that he will continue to hire substitute teachers who are qualified to teach the subject.
As of right now, there are two potential candidates for the permanent teacher position who were interviewed on Sept. 16.
