Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Orchestra director and district staff urge board to protect performing‑arts and raise auxiliary pay to retain staff
Summary
An elementary and middle‑school orchestra director asked trustees to preserve performing‑arts staffing and curricular time; a district employee and union leader also urged higher pay for auxiliary staff such as instructional assistants, bus workers and cafeteria employees to reduce turnover.
Several speakers during the citizens‑to‑be‑heard segment asked the board to preserve performing‑arts programs and increase pay for auxiliary staff to address recruitment and retention challenges.
What speakers said - Jennifer John, an orchestra director and former Northside student, said daily instruction is what creates high‑level musical performance and expressed concern about dissolving choir programs, splitting performing‑arts directors for allotment reasons, and declining middle‑school enrollments that make program retention harder. “These high level performances are a product of daily intentional practice and specialized instruction,” she said. - Grace Garza, a district employee, urged trustees to increase auxiliary pay, noting many support staff earn low wages, hold second jobs and struggle with basic living needs. She said instructional assistants, office staff, bus staff and cafeteria workers are essential to student success and retention. - Melina Espiritu Asocar, president of Northside AFT, welcomed new trustees and said the union will work with the board to keep Northside a destination district, emphasizing retention of teachers and support staff.
Why it matters Speakers tied program quality and student outcomes to staffing stability. District staff who do not earn competitive wages are harder to recruit and retain; parents and educators said that can diminish daily operations, after‑school supervision and extra‑curricular offerings that are often essential to students’ success and families’ decisions about where to enroll.
Board response Trustees acknowledged the comments and said administration would follow up on compensation and program decisions; no board action was taken during the citizen comment period (informational only).
Ending Speakers asked for specific remedies: protecting daily performing‑arts instructional minutes, reconsidering advisory scheduling that reduces elective access, and a systematic review of auxiliary pay with a goal of living wages and reduced vacancy rates.
