Parents, students and teachers implore Northside trustees to preserve choir and dance amid budget cuts

Dozens of students, parents and teachers told the Northside Board of Trustees during the citizens‑to‑be‑heard portion of the meeting that proposed or announced reductions in middle‑school choir and dance programs would damage student opportunities and equity.

Fifth‑grader Elin Cagle of Patricia J. Blattman Elementary opened public comment with a separate request — a push for a rubber safety surface that would allow children who use wheelchairs to access play equipment. “When I saw her sitting on the concrete while her friends were playing on the playground, it broke my heart,” Elin said of her friend Ellie, and she urged the board to consider longer‑term playground surfacing that is more accessible.

Public testimony that followed focused overwhelmingly on fine arts staffing and program changes the district is planning for next year. Parents and students described programs they said were scheduled to be cut or reduced at Connolly, Neff, Rayburn and Ross middle schools and at Holmes High School, and they urged trustees to reconsider decisions made at campus administrative level.

Several students described choir or dance as the key to academic engagement and mental health. Isabella Martinez, identified as a two‑time regent and state qualifier, said, “Choir has taught me discipline, teamwork, confidence, and emotional expression. The thought of having choir taken away is heartbreaking.”

Parents and educators offered program‑level data and alternatives. Leslie Ortiz, a dance teacher at Zachary Magnet Middle School and the district’s 2020 educator of the year for that campus, said her program has 129 students signed up for the coming year and that a planned staffing split would force caps at 25–27 students, leaving dozens unable to enroll. Ortiz provided a class‑level breakdown and said the split would force her to run two winter showcases, double end‑of‑year recitals and oversee field trips at two campuses with the same contracted hours.

Melissa Guerrero Massey, a choir director at Connolly Middle School, told trustees she and other choir teachers put a shared enrollment chart together after learning of planned cuts; she said some middle‑school choir enrollments have increased year‑to‑year and asked for a joint district‑level review before cuts are finalized. “We had numbers — enrollment had increased in the choir program — so I was very much surprised,” she said.

Speakers highlighted impacts on students with special needs and students who cannot afford private lessons. Precious Coleman, a parent and Warren Choir Booster Club board member, said her daughter, a senior on the autism spectrum, “has not only found her voice in a supportive community where she has thrived.”

Longer‑term and programmatic concerns were raised by former classroom and choir teachers. Kathy Settles Horace, a retiring choir director with 27 years’ experience, warned of a domino effect: “Once this option is on the table and considered viable, I fear that it can't be undone,” she said, describing how past middle‑school cuts have weakened high‑school choral programs in some feeder patterns.

Several speakers asked the board for alternatives rather than elimination, including limiting middle‑school high‑school credit courses, eliminating advisory to create elective slots, or capping the number of high‑school credits earned in middle school so performing arts can remain an accessible elective.

Why it matters: Trustees have repeatedly said the district faces a sizable budget shortfall and must consider staffing and program changes at the campus level. Speakers argued that cutting electives and fine arts at middle school will reduce high‑school program continuity, harm college‑going indicators, and lower attendance — outcomes that could worsen the district’s long‑term academic metrics.

What trustees said: Board members listened without taking action during public comment. The superintendent and finance staff have told the board they will return with proposed staffing and budget options in the coming weeks; several speakers asked the board to delay or revisit decisions until the district completes district‑level analysis of enrollment trends and course caps.

Next steps: District staff will continue modeling budget options, and trustees said they will review the detailed staffing proposals and scheduling impacts the administration brings to the finance committee and to future board meetings.