Groton — When Kate Serio learned that a few students in her Spanish class at Fitch High School were taking a nursing course, she had an idea: What if she ran a Spanish for the Workplace course?

It would emphasize vocabulary that is specific to professions like health, business and public service. She could see how important it is to speak Spanish in the restaurant industry.

Serio still needs to figure out the level at which it would be taught and how it would fit into the Spanish sequence, but Board of Education members are enthusiastic about the idea.

This was one of the Fitch course proposals presented to the board at its Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday.

On Monday, the board will vote on Spanish for the Workplace and six other courses for the 2018-19 school year: Latin Prose, Latin Poetry, Special Science 9-10, Special Science 11-12, Photography III and Falcon Café.

The new courses will not result in the hiring of any additional staff, according to Superintendent Michael Graner.

In the case of Latin Prose and Latin Poetry, the courses would actually reduce staffing need, Latin teacher Nicole Howell said. That's because they would replace Latin III and IV, and would be run on alternate years. Each would be available to any student who has completed Latin 2.

Latin Poetry would include texts from Ovid, Catullus, Vergil and Horace, while Latin Prose would cover works by Caesar, Cicero, Livy and Apuleius.

Photography teacher Christina Scala would like to add Photography III based on student interest and need; she noted that 14 students graduating last year were going into the field. She laments that freshmen can take Photography I and II their first two semesters but then must wait until senior year to do an independent study.

Culinary instructor Scott Post said the setup for Falcon Café "isn't working that great" because he must teach culinary standards but then stop in the middle of the week to work on the café.

He would like to have Falcon Café as a separate course students can take after Food I and Culinary I, to learn purchasing, menu planning, hosting, plating and garnishing in a real-world setting.

Fitch High School has specialized English, math and social studies classes, and special education department chair Maggie Courter and science department chair Jason England want a similar focus on science.

The board meeting on Tuesday brought up a debate that may seem atypical for the venue: the merits of graphic novels. A course in which students would study graphic novels with a focus on English and art was one of the proposals, but board members opted to postpone the vote on the course, as they wanted more information on its structure and what books would be used.

Board member Andrea Ackerman said she "highly disapprove(d)" of the course, noting that she could not find research substantiating the worth of teaching graphic novels and that the course would not amplify the connection between reading and writing.

Katrina Fitzgerald spoke of her first encounter with a graphic novel: reading "March," a trilogy told through the perspective of civil rights activist and U.S. representative John Lewis. She said having to align the graphics with the text made her think more about the message.

"I like this idea, particularly with the collaboration with the arts department," Fitzgerald said of the proposal. She added, "For some kids that maybe aren't interested in college, getting into something like this might broaden their horizons more."

The graphic novels course was last taught about six years ago.

Another course that was last taught several years ago and was proposed again is African-American Studies. But Assistant Principal Erin McGuire said this proposal is not ready and would be put off until the 2019-20 school year.

e.moser@theday.com