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High-school art teachers retiring; parents and teachers urge district to keep two hands‑on visual‑arts positions
Summary
Two Atascadero High School art teachers are retiring and public speakers urged the district to retain two hands‑on visual‑arts positions to preserve ceramics, AP art and community partnerships; teachers warned a single hire would create untenable workloads.
Two long‑time Atascadero Unified School District teachers and a community art teacher told the board that Atascadero High School’s hands‑on visual‑arts staffing is at risk after retirements and urged the district to preserve two positions to maintain programs such as ceramics, AP art and public exhibitions.
Carolyn Balo, an art and independent study teacher at Fine Arts Academy and a parent of two district graduates, said she learned one of the two popular, hands‑on visual‑arts/ceramics positions at Atascadero High School “is slated to be cut” after retirements. Balo emphasized arts classes support academic outcomes and college readiness. “The arts promote a more sophisticated and creative learning process that allows them to succeed in other subjects,” she told trustees during oral communication.
Tess Harbach, one of the retiring teachers, said a single hire cannot replace the current two‑teacher program and warned a single teacher assigned six different hands‑on classes plus after‑school shows, field trips and community events would face burnout. “A part‑time position must be provided at bare minimum to adequately meet the needs of our students,” Harbach said.
Nut graf: Teachers and community advocates strongly urged the district to preserve two art positions at the high school, citing full enrollment in art classes and the role visual arts plays in student engagement, advanced coursework and community partnerships; district leaders said they will review staffing requests as part of broader staffing and budget decisions.
Harbach said AP art and an advanced ceramics class were growing: she reported an advanced‑ceramics class had “17 students” and said “29 students are projected to be in that class next year” (as spoken on the record). Both speakers emphasized that strong introductory courses feed advanced classes and that losing hands‑on classes could weaken the pipeline for AP and advanced offerings.
Superintendent Butler and trustees thanked the speakers and said the district would review staffing and the retirements as part of upcoming personnel decisions. Butler told the board, “We’ll be looking into our staffing as well,” and acknowledged the district would examine requests shared during public comment.
Ending: No formal personnel action was taken at the meeting. Trustees requested that staff review the staffing request and report back; teachers and parents asked for a part‑time or full‑time second hire to continue hands‑on visual‑arts offerings.
