Hinsdale D86 German Program Survives For Time Being

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 is hiring a German teacher for next year, brightening the future of the language program.

On Thursday, the school board approved the employment of the teacher at a salary of $102,000.

"We will be able to fulfill our commitments to our current German students. We were worried about it," Superintendent Michael Lach told the board. "I'm glad our recruitment efforts played out. It's a nice reminder that people really do want to come here to work."

The district's two primary German teachers are set to retire at the end of this school year. The other one is retiring next year.

In November, the board voted for "sunsetting" German courses at both campuses. It was the result of two factors – the retirements and the program's plunging enrollment.

At Central, 89 students are enrolled this year in German courses, compared with nearly 150 five years ago, according to the district.

At South, 16 are in the courses now, down from 24.

The schools have had to combine different levels of German in one class because of low enrollment – which is known as "stacking" in school jargon.

At November's meeting, Lach said finding German teachers was so hard they were compared to unicorns.