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Students, parents and teachers urge David Douglas board to restore assistant band director amid proposed cuts
Summary
Dozens of students, alumni and parents told the David Douglas School Board that cutting the assistant band director position would damage a decades‑old music pipeline and student supports; the board heard public comment and discussed options but took no formal action during the meeting.
Dozens of students, alumni and parents packed the David Douglas School District boardroom on May 8 to urge school leaders to preserve the assistant band director position at David Douglas High School after district staffing changes put the role at risk.
In nearly two hours of public comment, current and former students described the assistant director as essential to the band program’s competitive success and to students’ social and emotional development. "Something truly special is at risk of being dismantled, not because it failed, but because it succeeded too quietly," said Nelson Santos, a senior and member of the David Douglas music program.
The comment period included multiple speakers who said the assistant director, identified in testimony as Danny Fineman, leads or co‑teaches key classes such as Jazz 1 and percussion methods and provides private…
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