Teachers and parents urge district to boost elementary arts funding; call for stricter high school phone enforcement

Several public‑commenters at the June 10 Board of Education meeting pressed the district for more consistent support of arts instruction and for stricter cell‑phone enforcement in high schools.

Arts funding concerns from teachers Visual arts teacher Veronica Golden told the board she has taught in Charles County for 18 years and that elementary visual‑arts programs are underfunded “across the district.” Golden told board members she and other elementary art teachers received very limited classroom budgets — she cited receiving $150 for a school of 340 students (about $0.45 per pupil) — and asked the district to adopt a real per‑pupil funding formula and to hold school leaders accountable for following it.

Choir and music teacher Peter Ullman said he has personally paid for extracurricular music materials and cited students who have become nationally known performers after programs supported by teachers. Ullman asked the board for funding parity and said many music teachers shoulder costs for repertoire and materials from personal funds.

What teachers asked the board to do - Create and apply a transparent, consistent per‑pupil funding formula for arts instruction at the elementary level. - Ensure building leaders allocate their school budgets to arts teachers and to supply classrooms with basic consumables. - Explore bulk or discounted purchasing programs for families who want to buy BYOD devices (raised as a separate topic by board members later in the meeting).

Cell phone enforcement in high schools Teacher Kevin Gibson urged the board to empower principals and administrators to consistently enforce the superintendent—s rule requiring high‑school students to keep phones powered off and stored, except during designated times such as lunch. Gibson described widespread in‑class phone use that he said disrupts instruction, enables students to bypass filters through cellular/VPN use and creates disciplinary problems. He asked that administrators confiscate phones when students refuse to comply and require parents to collect repeated‑offender phones.

Board response Board and administrative members acknowledged the public comments and said they would pass concerns to the appropriate offices. Several board members said they would follow up with the Office of Teaching and Learning and the Office of Finance on arts funding questions. Superintendent Navarro and staff noted hotspot programs, community partnerships and other efforts to address equity and material access and invited teachers to continue conversations with principals and central staff.

Ending Speakers portrayed the concerns as immediate classroom needs rather than abstract policy; the board signaled it would add follow‑up briefings and consider staff proposals this summer.