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Proposed school music cuts protested
Board holds out hope after hearing from Tacoma middle school parents and students
DEBBY ABE; debby.abe@thenewstribune.com
Last updated: May 24th, 2008 01:25 AM (PDT)
Tacoma School Board members have asked administrators to see if they can squeeze any more money from the budget to keep band and orchestra programs intact in middle schools.
After listening to a stream of Truman Middle School students and parents Thursday night decrying proposed cuts to their music program, board member Kurt Miller said, “I know Doctor (Superintendent Art) Jarvis supports the arts. … So I’m asking him to look really deep into his magic box, and see what he can pull out, not just at Truman but at all of our schools, to make sure we keep the arts.”
Truman, which has five periods of band and two periods of orchestra, is slated to lose one period of each next fall, based on preliminary scheduling decisions, district officials have said.
But consolidating the orchestra program into one class period means beginners and more advanced students would be lumped together, Truman parents and students said. Plus, it appears orchestra teacher Courtney Shelton will lose her position at Truman, leaving band instructor David Cripe to teach orchestra.
“What we are left with is a single, chaotic class, not a strings program,” parent Lara Henricksen said. “We don’t want a holding pen; we want quality programs that allow our student to progress.”
Parents praised both teachers for their commitment to their programs.
Cullen Daniels, who started playing the cello this year at Truman, said Shelton is the “coolest teacher ever.”
“If you take her away we will not learn proper orchestra techniques,” the sixth-grader said. “I look forward to that period every morning and when it’s over I look forward to it on the next day.”
Henricksen was among several speakers who said Truman’s instrument programs are growing, with 154 students in band or orchestra this year, and 195 who want to participate next year.
Meanwhile, Gray Middle School, which has five periods of visual arts and several classes of computer technology this year, is slated to lose both programs in their entirety next year, special-education teacher Bob Hass told the board. Those are the classes, he noted, that keep his students engaged and allow some to find their niche.
Board members and Jarvis expressed their support for the arts, and said there’s no edict from central administration to cut them. Rather, principals are deciding which classes to offer next year, based on enrollment projections and student sign-ups for classes. They stressed that the process is continuing.
Jarvis said Gault, Giaudrone and Meeker are among the middle schools that will maintain or increase band, choir, orch- estra and visual arts. Yet he added that middle schools are also projecting deep enrollment slides, including 10 percent at Baker, Gray and Mason, and nearly 20 percent at Hunt and Jason Lee.
Principals will have to cut staff somewhere based on the enrollment trend. Still, he said, “we cannot narrow the curriculum and eliminate the things that interest students. … We’ve got to get help from the state.”
Debby Abe: 253-597-8694
Originally published: May 24th, 2008 01:25 AM (PDT)
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