Music programs face cuts in Fruitvale school district
Parents, teachers fight for their programs
| Tuesday, Jun 09 2009 10:39 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Jun 09 2009 10:45 PM
Images
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Brenda Rankin tries to hold back tears as she talks about how the music program changed her son Christopher's life. Christopher suffers from ADD, but after he began studying music in elementary school his grades and behavior improved. Rankin, along with many other parents and employees, attended the Fruitvale School District board meeting Tuesday evening to voice her concerns over the possible elimination of the music program.
The Fruitvale School District School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to give the district permission for precautionary notices of layoffs and cuts. No decisions will be final until August, but one option is to cut the district's music department.
Superintendent Carl Olsen said Fruitvale lost $1.1 million to additional budget cuts in the past two weeks. He said this is the first time the district has had to take such drastic actions over the summer.
"We're at a point, we have no place else to go besides teacher reductions," Olsen said.
The board room was packed with parents, students and teachers. Sixteen people spoke from personal experience on how much of a difference music can make in a child's life.
Brenda Rankin cried as she told how her now-20-year-old son struggled with school and was diagnosed with ADD and a processing disorder in elementary school. He succeeded academically because of music.
"It makes me so emotional that the music program turned his life around," Rankin said.
Rankin said it worries her that music may not be available for her 9-year-old daughter who attends Discovery Elementary School.
Tyler Smith, a 20-year-old student at Bakersfield College, said music keeps kids in school. He said losing the department would be a "tragedy" because of all the good things that come out of music.
Other college students spoke of how their exposure to music at a young age persuaded them to study music as a career.
Olsen said the music program has always been a "major struggle" and the current program is much more extensive than other elementary programs.
The audience applauded when board member Stan Greene recommended that the current budget cutting options change in order to keep some form of music program in the junior high.
"I would hate to lose an entire program," he said.
President Kevin Burton spoke of the serious times the district is facing due to state budget cuts.
"We have to make some decisions we know aren't popular," he said. "It's very difficult sitting in this spot. I'm just sick about it."
Other money-saving options include cutting specialized teachers such as counselors, trimming physical education and psychology programs and reducing four elementary classroom positions. Reducing the hours of five library clerk positions and cutting their benefits is also a possibility.
The board also voted unanimously to give the district authorization to borrow from the Kern County Board of Education.
In March, Rosedale Union School District sent layoff notices to 32 teachers, but to date 14 have been rehired as a result of retirements, resignations and and enrollment projections, according to Superintendent Jamie Henderson.
The district's approach was to plan for the worst, and "hopefully back off a little," which to some extent it has been able to do.
Rosedale will hold a special board meeting June 25 at 1 p.m. to adopt its 2009-10 budget.
