Students, teachers and parents urge Phoenix Union to reinstate VAPA specialist amid RIF debate
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Summary
Student performers, teachers and parents told the Phoenix Union board that eliminating the district's VAPA (visual and performing arts) specialist will overburden teachers, reduce student opportunities and damage recruitment; several asked the board to reconsider the RIF that targets arts-support positions.
Dozens of public commenters used the meeting's call-to-the-public to press trustees to reverse the decision to eliminate the district's visual and performing arts (VAPA) specialist.
"The VAPA specialist is the person who organizes all of our major events ... Without this role, these responsibilities of planning and coordination would fall onto the teachers," said JC Homa, a Maryville High School junior, urging the board to reconsider the cut. Another Maryville senior, Skyler Lemus, said eliminating the specialist would overwhelm teachers and could depress future enrollment in arts programs.
Multiple teachers and parents amplified the concern. Amanda Taylor, a choir teacher and parent, told the board the rubric and information given before the prior vote were inaccurate and that removing the VAPA specialist risked recruiting and retention damage for a program she called a district draw. "There is no plan in place for how essential workload will be redistributed. No plan for compensation," she said.
Other public speakers asked the board to show up at upcoming district arts festivals so trustees could see the workload and staffing that support them. Megan Christiansen, a Maryville teacher, invited trustees to attend the Greater Phoenix Strings and Music festivals "to see exactly how much goes into those festivals," and she urged that trustees consider the impact of cuts on program quality.
Why it matters: Speakers said the specialist coordinates logistics, festivals, displays and vendor relationships across campuses, work they say teachers would be asked to absorb if the position is eliminated. Trustees acknowledged the public comments and discussed how the larger budget and RIF decisions intersect with program priorities and enrollment projections.
What's next: Several trustees asked staff for more information on plans for vacant VAPA responsibilities and for transparency about how duties would be redistributed. The superintendent and staff did not announce a reversal; the RIF recommendations were approved later in the meeting.