ELGIN (WACH) -- Some Richland School District 2 elementary students returning to class next week may notice a change in their schedules.
Officials are eliminating foreign language instruction throughout its 17 elementary schools during the next two years. They say it's due to budget cuts.
Since 2009, Richland 2 has lost $11 million in state funding.
Since foreign language is not required for elementary students, the district decided to cut Spanish in order to pay for mandated programs.
"While we tried to really find creative ways to save money and to what we were doing before with less, it came down to the point that we couldn't," explains Theresa Riley, Richland District 2 spokesperson.
Riley says the district understands the importance of teaching its students foreign languages and they hope to be able to bring the program back in the future.
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