|
News >> ................................................................Last updated: 01/29/2010 |
Budget cut blues: District evaluates fate of music program
Paige Doran ~ News Editor
What we know: freshmen won’t be able to take Driver’s Ed. Sports fees will double.
The middle schools were hit hardest.
What we don’t know: exactly how many classes will feel the budget pinch.
Although some things remain undetermined, the district has taken the initial strides towards digging itself out of the $5.7 million deficit. At a special board meeting on Jan. 21, the administration accepted most of the proposed cuts.
These cuts left the high schools with a budget reduction of $1,217, 500 and an overall billing budget with a decrease of 6 percent. The numbers may seem large, but the district stresses that they are working to keep the impact on students minimal.
Principal Robert Miller said of the impact on students, “If they participate in sports, the fee will double. It will now be $100. There won’t be as many deans’ assistants; we have nine this year and next year there will be seven. There will also be the loss of nine full-time equivalents between North and East.”
Most teachers are full-time equivalents (FTEs), but that does not necessarily mean that nine teachers will lose their jobs. Some teachers may go to part-time, but it all depends on enrollment. “We’ve been asked to closely monitor enrollment numbers and submit them to the district. After the numbers come in, enrollment numbers will determine employment. There need to be at least 20 students in a class to run a section,” Miller said.
This may mean some changes in the music department, but nothing is certain yet. Fine Arts Lead Teacher Gil Wukitsch said, “We have to wait for enrollment numbers to come in before we see the impact of the budget cuts. Some things might be consolidated or classes might have to be combined in different ways, but we don’t know quite yet. It won’t cripple the program, but it will change things.” One thing that has changed is that Vocal Jazz Lab will not be offered next year.
The budget cut has impacted the middle school music program in a much larger way. Students at the middle schools will no longer have the option to take instrumental music during lunch periods but w
ill instead have the option to take it as part of their exploratory rotation.
They now have three choices: taking exploratory courses such as art or Spanish, band, choir, or orchestra, or a combination of the two.
Eliminating the option for students to take music classes during lunch periods causes concern for the high school music program. “The biggest potential downside is the number of students in performing ensembles,” Wukitsch said. He fears that while there might be a decrease in participation in music classes, there is a benefit to making music classes part of the exploratory rotation. “The upside of it is that they will have longer rehearsals each day. My personal hope is that the kids will be more dedicated,” Wukitsch said.
Middle school students now only have the option to take Spanish as a language. Language Lead Teacher Diana Sandberg said, “It could boost Spanish, because that’s their only option. French and German are the ones we’re worried about. Offering only Spanish closes people’s minds to other languages.” This may also impact the future of the higher level foreign language classes. “It will be interesting to see after a couple of years if there are as many students in the AP level classes,” Sandberg said.
Driver’s Ed will also be slightly impacted by the budget cuts. “The proposed restructuring is that Driver’s Ed will no longer be offered to freshman, only to sophomores,” Miller said.
Comments
|
|
|
