Teachers and parents urge year‑round music, arts and consistent schedules for middle grades

At the Scranton School District board meeting on June 2, several teachers, union leaders and parents pressed the board to restore year‑round music and other related‑arts offerings for middle school students and to adopt a single, consistent related‑arts schedule that includes fifth grade.

The speakers said the district’s current rotation systems — in some schools a 6‑day cycle for fifth grade and a Monday‑to‑Friday rotation for other grades, and in others a 45‑day quarter rotation — fragment instruction and leave students with too little sustained time in music, band, chorus and art to develop skills. “You cannot learn and master that skill in 45 days,” Julie Ferguson, chorus teacher at South Scranton Intermediate School, said during public comment. She described the pre‑2018 schedule in which students had music classes throughout the year and said that model produced about 72 music lessons per year per student.

Several other teachers testified that short rotations undermine skill development and create equity problems. “A pullout instrumental program services approximately 20 percent of the student population,” Ferguson said of a proposed fifth‑grade rental‑instrument pullout, noting instrument rentals cost “$20 to $40 per month” and could exclude low‑income students. Greg Hulse, a 21‑year teacher at South Scranton Intermediate, said a 40‑day rotation “disrupts the journey” of ensemble and individual development and recalled that middle school was a key time for students to explore identity and belong to a group.

Teachers pressed the board to return to schedules that provide sustained, consecutive related‑arts instruction — proposals discussed included a 30‑ or 36‑day cycle that would give teachers more continuous time with students. Art teachers highlighted logistical needs in art rooms — storage and drying time for projects, supplies and working sinks — that make compressed rotations impractical. “Cramming all that into a 45‑day marking period does not have the students’ best interest at heart,” Angela Ciccarelli, an art teacher, said.

Union leaders and building supervisors also spoke. Jen Tulesco, president‑elect of the Scranton Federation of Teachers, congratulated new teachers and retirees and urged support for induction and retention; Luann Heenahan, president of SEIU Local 32BJ and a building supervisor, said building supervisors contributed inspection and maintenance data to the Operations Hero work‑order system and warned that data would be lost if the board rejected that contract (the Operations Hero purchase was later approved by the board).

Board members acknowledged the concerns and asked administration for more implementation details, including requests to provide a complete list of systems and programs used by the district so board members can weigh tradeoffs across competing priorities. Superintendent Dr. Keating described upcoming summer efforts including registration events and playground reveals but did not commit to a specific schedule change at the meeting.