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Parents urge Frontier to restore general music and to standardize school safety checks
Summary
Two parents used the public-comment period to urge the board to restore a sixth-grade general music class lost to staffing changes and to request consistent entry and identification procedures across district schools.
Two parents raised distinct concerns during the board’s public-comment period Wednesday: one about the district’s music staffing and the other about inconsistent building entry procedures and school security.
Amy Hartman, the parent of a sixth grader and a veteran vocal-music teacher in a neighboring district, said general music was missing from her child’s sixth-grade schedule this year because district staffing changes moved orchestra positions and left a hole in the middle-school program. "My son will be spending most of his school year with 2 study halls a day. What a waste of time," Hartman said. She told trustees she had attended spring meetings where students had pleaded for the district to fill a retiring teacher’s position and expressed disappointment that the district did not hire to fill the high-school orchestra post. "I need you to know that this is not going unnoticed," she said.
Andrea Hassick, a parent of children at Big Tree Elementary and the UPK program, described an incident in which she was buzzed into Victory Elementary without being asked for identification. "I entered the front foyer. I was in a clear fishbowl. I heard kids. I saw kids. I saw children in the library down the hall. Nobody asked for my name or who I was," she said. Hassick contrasted that entry with a separate visit to Big Tree two days later when her husband was asked for ID. She said the inconsistency between schools is alarming and urged more consistent police presence and security across elementary sites. Hassick noted the district currently employs two SRO teams shared across buildings and asked the board to consider more dedicated coverage.
Board response: A board member asked whether Hassick had been in the “trap zone” foyer; Hassick confirmed she had. The superintendent offered to follow up and asked whether Hassick preferred a call or letter; she requested a letter. The board did not take any immediate policy vote on either subject during the meeting.
Ending: Both comments were recorded during the public-comment (privilege of the floor) portion of the meeting; the district indicated it would follow up with the parent who requested a written response.
