French no longer offered to most Tisdale students

This school year most students in Tisdale will not have the option of taking French as a core subject.

The North East School Division made the decision after it consulted parents.

Don Rempel is the director of the school division and he calls cutting French classes from the curriculum a balance between the number of students enrolled, teachers available, and other classes the division could offer.

"What's the best use of teacher resources as far as advancing the priorities of the school?" Rempel said.

The school division said there was low enrolment in French in previous years.

Tisdale is now the eighth community in the North East School Division to drop core French. Michelle Fleury has three children going to school in town.

"By removing French from the curriculum the school division has made a very clear point to the children that second language in Canada is not important," Fleury said.

In Saskatchewan, core French is not mandatory, leaving it up to each school division to decide if it's offered.

An online French class will be available for students in Grades 10 to 12 if they want to continue learning the language.