Beginning Monday, a class of up to 25 students will take French at Stacy Middle School.

The program had been cut due to a budget reduction, but Superintendent Robert Tremblay announced Thursday he had hired a part-time instructor who is licensed in the romantic language, and willing to work on a limited basis.

"We found somebody," Tremblay said.

Last spring, after announcing the budget reduction, which resulted in the loss of the seventh grade French program, Tremblay said he would investigate options. Parents and teachers had criticized the cut, saying it would impact the larger French program in high school.

The effort began with a survey last spring of incoming seventh-graders, who were asked whether they would be interested in French.

Twenty-five students indicated in the survey they were more interested in French, than Spanish, the other option.