Seymour Community School Corp.’s board of trustees made the decision Tuesday night to drop the proposed dual-immersion program for Cortland Elementary School and will explore other options within the corporation over the next year.

Initially, the dual-immersion program would have allowed kindergarteners in the fall of 2025 to receive bilingual education and learn content in the Spanish language.

After families and individuals in Hamilton Township shared their concerns about the program during a public information meeting and a school board meeting last month, the school board postponed the proposal until May.

Jose Martinez, the corporation’s assistant director of federal and state programs, shared a public statement during Tuesday’s meeting.

“One of the most important elements of a sustainable dual-language immersion program is community support and community involvement,” he said.

He said the corporation wants to ensure the community has the opportunity for children to be bilingual, biliterate and have the social-cultural competence in a school setting that is productive, welcoming and sustainable.

“For that reason, I no longer believe that Cortland is the right place for such a program,” he said. “Consequently, I will no longer be seeking approval for the grant that was presented in January at next month’s board meeting.”

The $50,000 development grant would have been used to fund start-up costs associated with professional development, curriculum and programming, classroom supplies/material and teacher equipment for the program.

Martinez said the lengthy proposal document he submitted to the board for review last month was a result of months of research that was focused on justifying the most appropriate instructional plan for Cortland Elementary, specifically. He said resources, curriculum, school capacity, human capacity and budgets were all evaluated and researched.

“This proposal was specific to Cortland and would not be appropriate for any other school in our corporation,” he said.

Martinez said over the next academic year, he would like to take time to explore within the school corporation where a dual-immersion program could be sustainable.

Board president Ken Browning gave a statement on behalf of the school board.

“As elected board members, we try and do listen to the input of our community,” he said. “Based on what we learned regarding the proposal and the dual immersion program at Cortland, we will continue to work with our superintendent and his team to take the next year to study options.”

Browning said the corporation will offer survey opportunities in the future to families and community members for their input and as well to find various ways to communicate further information.

“Because of the declining enrollment, Cortland seemed like a good fit,” he said.

For years, Cortland has suffered a consistent decline in student enrollment and roughly 50% of students are there on waivers. The waivers are for students who have transferred to the school or live out-of-district, which can happen for a variety of causes. The waivers are only fulfilled if there is room in the classes.

Browning said the board agrees with Martinez to take a year prior to applying for the development grant to take a second look and consider all district locations and program options.

“From the focus groups to the public meetings, there was strong feedback that the program had value and would create opportunities for schools,” he said.

The school board should expect a location and program recommendation in the 2025-26 school year.

Any proposal regarding the dual-immersion program will go through a two read process where items are listed on the agenda as a first read one month and moved to an action item the next. This will give the board and the public 30 days for questions and input once a recommendation is made. School board agendas are advertised to the public.

“The school board’s goal is to keep the best interest of students at heart, at the heart of every new addition,” Browning said. “Each decision is deliberate, thoughtful and student-centered.”