JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch High School students will soon say au revoir to French classes.

South Butler County School Board members voted 5 to 3 Wednesday night to phase out French language courses over the next five years, starting with French I for eighth graders.

Other classes may be phased out as soon as the end of next school year depending on interest.

“I’m disappointed,” said Lydia Walls, 16, who just completed French II.

She will be able to take French III this fall, but wasn’t promised the French IV and French V classes she had planned to take would be available.

Lydia is interested in pursuing computer engineering in Africa, where French is the predominant language in many countries.

“I thought that would open a whole new window of experience,” she said.

Eliminating a middle school French teacher this year and cutting back the curriculum will save about $80,000 for the 2015-16 school year. Declining enrollment and increasing costs were cited as reasons to phase out the program.

Board members Nelda Burd, Matt Cimbala, Debra Miller, Jacqueline Pfeiffer and Linda Rieck voted to phase out the curriculum. Dale Fennell, Bob Goodlin and Richard Roberts voted against it.

James Jones was absent.

Many board members admittedly agonized over the decision.

Burd said, “I believe in the importance of languages and starting at a young age. I care about language education.”

She spoke about her son, now college-aged, who began taking weekly Japanese classes when he was 5. He took Spanish and Latin in high school.

While he’s pursuing a college degree in sciences, he still takes language elective courses. He’ll be participating in an immersion program in Japan this summer.

However, Burd said the decision isn’t a reflection of the language offerings, but rather, the exponentially rising state pension contributions.

“I just really worry about the financial stresses on the district,” she said.

Next school year, 202 students are enrolled in Spanish, 149 students are enrolled in German and 129 students were enrolled in French.

Lower enrollment levels over other languages were noted as one of the reasons French was chosen for elimination, Pfeiffer said.

“To me, French is not a global language anymore. I see Spanish as a more important language,” she said.

French is a language she has experience learning. She was taught French in elementary school, later taking French in high school and college. However, she hasn’t used it in many years.

But the decision was difficult.

“Unfortunately, it all boils down to money,” Pfeiffer said.

On the other hand, Goodlin said he was moved by French students who spoke at the meeting last week, and their passion encouraged him to vote against the plan.

“Every vote I make, I try to have the kids’ best interests at heart,” he said.

Susan Venatta, a Knoch parent whose daughter Grace had signed up for French I this fall, was disappointed by how the decision was handled as well as the decision itself.

“They chose their elective, and then suddenly, took that elective away,” she said.

Parents were notified in late May of the likely elimination of the French curriculum.

Jill Walls, Lydia’s mother, said, “Our district is going backward. It’s just shocking to me.”

Also Wednesday night, the school board approved a $35.5 million budget with no tax increase for next year. The current tax rate is 93.275 mills.

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