Columbus County schools present arts programs, call for funding, staffing and schedule changes to protect arts and CCP participation

Kelly Jones, Columbus County Schools arts coordinator, told the board on May 12 that the district’s arts programs — including music, theater, dance, visual art and poetry — have produced measurable student outcomes but face funding and staffing challenges.

Jones said Columbus County requires an arts credit for high‑school graduation and offers a broad set of disciplines, including piano labs in four schools and a long‑running Celebrate the Arts festival that he described as the largest student arts festival in the state. Jones said grant support from the State Arts Council, International Paper, the Sykes Foundation and other partners has exceeded a quarter‑million dollars over the past 20 years.

Jones gave operational details: 23 arts staff are in place with two positions open; the district currently spends about $8 per student on arts programs (roughly $40,000 total); grant funding pays for residencies and after‑school programs (notably at Tabor City, funded by the North Carolina Museum of Art). Jones cited constraints in replacing staffing lost during COVID and difficulties filling music and band openings, despite extensive recruiting.

Jones and several alumni speakers described long‑term payoffs: former students who participated in governor’s school, musical productions and arts residencies have gone on to college degrees and careers that rely on the creative and interpersonal skills they learned in school arts programs. Jones cited a McKinsey Global Institute study to argue that arts instruction builds nontechnical skills that employers seek, such as communication, agile thinking and coping with uncertainty.

District leaders also discussed the interaction between Comprehensive College Program (CCP) college courses and arts participation. Laura Hunter, implementing lead for schedule redesign, said the district will pilot a five‑period high‑school day at West Columbus High School and East Columbus High School next year. “We are reimagining what a high school schedule could look like... We create a flexible period where CCP classes can be taken… and also where kids can utilize the space in their schedule to add arts classes and to add more CTE classes,” Hunter said.

Jones asked the board to consider reinstating pre‑COVID arts fees (previously $20 for high school, $10 for middle school) because suspending fees removed about $21,000 in high‑school program revenue and $11,000 in middle‑school revenue. He also asked the board to help address certification and recruitment barriers that keep qualified music candidates from accepting positions.

Board members thanked Jones and staff for sustained programming and asked for follow‑up on strategies to fill open positions and to preserve funding. No formal board action was taken on funding or staffing during the May 12 meeting; Jones said he would return with proposals for fee reinstatement and other steps.

Provenance: presentation and discussion occurred in the special‑presentations and curriculum segments of the May 12 meeting.