Woodburn School District is home to one of the nation’s only public K-12 Russian language programs.
But enrollment fell this year after schools switched to remote learning and two new private schools came to town, leaving some to fear the program may be at risk.
District leaders reassigned two Russian-language teachers at the start of the school year. In December, they considered combining some of the elementary Russian classes and transferring three more of the program’s 12 teachers to other subjects, at least until numbers increased.
Dozens of teachers and parents opposed the idea, collecting more than 130 signatures on a petition, testifying at a school board meeting and walking out of a professional development training.
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Natalie Pate 