Teachers urge board to expand Beverly Taylor Sorensen arts integration funding

Nathaniel Eschler and Carlin (Caitlin) Bramble, teachers in the Beverly Taylor Sorensen (BTS) Integrated Arts Learning Program, asked the Granite School District board on April 1 to increase district funding for BTS and to build long‑term capacity for arts integration in K–5 classrooms.

"Arts integration is not an add‑on. It is a well‑established pedagogical approach," said Nathaniel Eschler, who noted BTS teachers serve roughly 26,732 students across 56 elementary schools in the district and collaborate with about 1,000 classroom teachers and related-service staff. He said successful arts integration requires time for planning and closer whole‑school and whole‑district coordination.

Eschler and co‑speaker Carlin Salazar described the program's daily workload: BTS teachers often teach five to seven classes per day across multiple grade levels, travel among schools, and usually have only one guaranteed 45‑minute planning period per week. They asked the board to consider supplementing BTS funding so coaches and visiting artists can meet the grant handbook's requirements and support deeper classroom collaboration.

Eschler cited education research linking arts integration to gains in cognitive and social‑emotional competencies and said that those outcomes align with the district's graduate attributes. He also described classroom examples — writing curricular songs and adapting chorales to teach science — to illustrate how arts integration can support core standards.

Board members thanked the teachers and said they would consider the request as the district reviews budgets and grants; no formal funding action was taken at the meeting.