Beginning this fall, eighth-graders in the Jim Thorpe Area School District will be required to take Spanish instead of art class.

But the school board wants administrators to ensure that students still have ways to express their creativity.The school board voted recently to change its curriculum for eighth-grade students at the L.B. Morris and Penn-Kidder campuses. Members voted 9-0 to replace eighth-grade art classes with a required Introduction to Spanish starting in the 2016-17 school year.The curriculum change will not affect staffing at the schools. A high school foreign language teacher will travel to the campuses to teach the course. Art teachers at Penn-Kidder and L.B. Morris will continue teaching students in grades K-7.School board members made it clear that even though they agreed to eliminate visual art from the required curriculum for eighth-graders, they want to provide opportunities for students who are passionate about it. Three board members, Dennis McGinley, Pearl Downs-Sheckler and Michael Principe all said that they would only approve the plan if administrators promise to provide art opportunities for eighth-graders. Board member Randall Smith also raised concerns."We may not need a traditional art class, but we talked about having some 'arts' as an elective or as an option for students who do have a passion for the arts," he said.Administrators said that while art won't be available as a class, there are other opportunities to work it into the day.Penn-Kidder Principal David McAndrew Jr. suggested that artistically inclined students could spend time on art projects during theResponse to Instruction and Intervention portion of the day."Because we're not trying to take the arts away, we can utilize that time to get some of those students who are really involved with art," he said.Superintendent Brian Gasper said that he would look into how to provide some kind of art for interested students, but he wasn't sure exactly how it would work yet."When you tour Penn-Kidder next year or the L.B., you'll see art," he said.