St. Tammany leaders plan hires to expand elementary strings as teachers and parents warn staffing changes could harm programs

St. Tammany Parish school officials told the school board on March 13 they plan to add instructors and adjust scheduling to expand the district's elementary strings program, while teachers, parents and students urged the board to protect existing programs and keep experienced instructors in place.

The district's presentation said strings instruction now serves students in grades 1—6 through violin, viola and cello in small-group, 30-minute sessions and that the program's age entry recently shifted from kindergarten to first grade. District staff said enrollment has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic and that the system currently serves strings at 31 elementary and middle schools; the goal is to advertise for two additional strings instructors and increase staffing to seven teachers so all 35 elementary and middle schools can be served.

Why it matters: Teachers and parents said the whole program depends on continuity of instruction and local relationships. Several elementary string teachers said district plans to reassign teachers across multiple campuses, and to use itinerant models, are splitting long-established programs and harming recruitment, enrollment and student support that developed over many years.

Officials' presentation and proposals

District staff said the strings program grew out of a Suzuki-based start and…