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Parents and students debate new sixth-grade instrument requirement; board says change addresses lost instructional time
Summary
A parent called the district’s new mandatory instrument policy for sixth graders harmful and accused a conflicts-of-interest with a supplier; student advisors and the superintendent defended the change as restoring classroom instructional time and helping music access.
Brian Hartman, identified as a parent of a sixth grader at Westgate Elementary, told the board the district’s mandatory instrument enrollment for sixth grade “is harmful and does not have an opt out,” adding it “incurs compulsory costs on both parents and students” and alleging an “apparent and absolutely unacceptable conflict of interest” with a vendor he named as Kennelly Keys Corporation.
Hartman said the policy forces time commitments for rehearsals, performances and outside-class practice that conflict with other family commitments and noted that the district’s instrument list did not include several instruments…
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