The Mid-Prairie School District is in the process of finding a new Mandarin Chinese teacher. The district was notified in March that their foreign language instructors needed to be certified teachers.

Superintendent Mark Schneider says they received a federal grant in 2006 to start their Mandarin  program. At that time, their instructors could be unlicensed and considered associates if a licensed teacher was in the classroom.

With this new requirement they’re down to one teacher in the department, meaning less instruction time for students if a replacement isn’t found.

Schneider says they have one candidate for the position who plans to relocate to the Midwest from China, but it’s still uncertain if it will work out.