Tighter School Budget Cuts NHS Latin

February 10, 2025
• After the high school removed Latin 1 from its course schedule this school year, budget cuts resulted in the elimination of the entire language program starting this fall.

A decline in Latin enrollment followed by a more than $2 million budget shortfall led the Needham Public Schools to cut the high school’s Latin program next school year, but school officials are looking to offer other options for students.

A lack of interest in Latin prompted the elimination of Latin 1 this school year — 62 students are enrolled across the four classes currently offered, Needham High School Principal Aaron Sicotte previously stated. The next least popular language is Mandarin, with about 109 students. By contrast, about 945 students take Spanish, according to Sicotte.

The school’s Latin teacher, who joined NHS in August, was one of several faculty members who either retired or were laid off. The teacher declined to comment for this story.

The World Languages department plans to find new learning opportunities “through alternative pathways,” K-12 World Languages Director Elizabeth Zajac wrote in an email. That includes online programming and independent study, she wrote.

“The decision to cut Latin next year was a difficult one, primarily due to a sustained decline in enrollment over several years, compounded by budgetary constraints,” Zajac wrote in part. “Students in the current program have fulfilled their two year NHS graduation requirement.”

Principal Aaron Sicotte articulated the learning alternatives at the School Committee’s Jan. 21 meeting: Dual enrollment, other college courses and an online learning program called TECCA Connections Academy are options for students, Sicotte said.

Though perhaps not ideal, those opportunities can provide “a lot of great learning,” he said.

“They won’t be within the walls of Needham High School, and yet they can still be really rich, wonderful experiences for them that allow them to continue their interest and passion around the language,” Sicotte told the committee.

School Committee member Alissa Skatrud lamented the loss of Latin while acknowledging its diminished popularity. Some students interested in practicing medicine or performing well on their standardized testing may want to take the language, she said.

Connie Barr, a committee member and doctor, offered a different perspective.

“There might be many reasons where students might want Latin, but I never took Latin,” Barr said. “I think a lot of my provider colleagues did not.”

Making budget cuts in some areas may lead to greater investment in others — Sicotte mentioned American Sign Language as another course that could grow at NHS.

“Obviously, very different languages and maybe some different student interest,” he said regarding Latin and ASL, “but a nice opportunity to expand the options that students have as they’re thinking about engaging with the world through different languages and communication.”

Another cut to world languages occurred at Pollard Middle School, where a section on French culture with low enrollment was also reduced, Superintendent Dan Gutekanst said to the committee Jan. 27.

Resources from Latin could be diverted to other languages, Gutekanst said.

An NHS art teacher will retire at the end of the year, but unlike Latin, Gutekanst reassured the school community that art will not be going anywhere.

“That will not mean that students will not have art, that will mean that some students may not have their first choice of an art class. They might have their second choice of an art class,” he said to the committee. “It may mean that instead of 21 students in a class, or 20, there might be 22 in an art class, but students will not lose program. The rich art program at the high school will continue.”

While the program is officially cut, school administration had not yet eliminated Latin from the middle school program of studies shared with the School Committee Feb. 4. The booklet states Latin focuses on developing reading, speaking, writing and listening skills while also encouraging students to understand “the impact of Roman culture on modern art, architecture, literature, and political and cultural institutions.”

“Students learn to see Latin and elements of ancient culture as an important part of their world,” the Latin 1 description reads, “and to view that world through the lens of Latin.”