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 now incorporates a broader strings curriculum developed by district teachers. Staff highlighted these points: - Current instructional model: small-group strings lessons (30 minutes) delivered on-site by itinerant instructors who travel to multiple schools. - Staffing and recruitment: district leaders said two additional openings are advertised; hiring two would bring the district to seven strings teachers with the aim of covering all 35 elementary and middle schools. "Please Dr. Ziccardi send them our way," the staff presenter said in remarks directed at Louisiana State University. - Teacher stipend: strings instructors receive a $1,000 yearly stipend for practices and performances, the presentation said. - Scheduling changes: officials said some schools could expand music and arts classes from 30 to 45 minutes when schedules allow, and that the district will support principals with scheduling sessions to reduce conflicts between pull-out music and core instruction. - Parent requirement removed: the district said the earlier Suzuki-era requirement that a parent attend lessons is no longer required; principals may ask parents to help with logistics for large instruments when needed.

Teachers, students and community response

More than a dozen teachers, parents and students told the board that the program's success depends on stable, school-based instruction. String teachers who addressed the board said they had spent years building enrollment and community ties and described emotional strain over recent reassignments.

"These are my students. This is my program," string teacher Miranda Burris said. "I have been fostering and growing these programs for 14 years. And a part of me is being ripped away." She said the stated reasons for reassignments (proximity, collaboration) did not match what she had been told by supervisors.

LSU music education professor David Ziccardi, who testified as an outside expert, urged the board not merely to maintain but to expand strings through the high-school level, saying research and practice show orchestra can broaden musical access and strengthen entire music departments. "I strongly urge you all ... not only should strings not be cut or reduced as they've been threatened to, but they should be expanded," Ziccardi said.

Students and parents described personal benefits. Fifth-grader Isaac told the board, "Playing violin is like therapy. I have ADHD and a tic disorder. But when I play violin, I am able to focus and regulate, and I don't tic at all." Several parents and former students said strings offered community, improved confidence and, in some cases, led to postsecondary music opportunities.

Board and staff responses

Board members acknowledged the community's concern and asked staff to refine schedules so pull-out lessons would not force students to miss essential core instruction. Superintendent Jabia and staff said the district will: - Continue active recruitment, advertise for the two vacancies immediately and seek candidates from university music education programs. - Help principals coordinate strings rosters and school schedules so students do not repeatedly miss the same core classes. - Keep strings, band and choir as separate but collaborative offerings and explore using enrichment blocks where appropriate.

The board also unanimously approved a separate resolution designating March as Music in Our Schools Month and Youth Art Month; the vote was recorded as unanimous in the minutes.

What's next

District leaders said they will proceed with the advertised hires and scheduling support. Teachers in the audience asked the board for explicit commitments to minimize involuntary reassignments and to fund professional development, honor ensembles and other support that string teachers say are essential to program stability.

The debate underscores tensions in districts nationwide between expanding access and preserving school-level continuity for specialist instruction, a point many speakers and board members raised during the meeting.