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Parents, students and choir boosters urge board to keep two choir directors and preserve immersion program
Summary
Dozens of parents, students and alumni told the Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools board during public forum that proposed cuts — including reducing high-school choir from two directors to one and curtailing middle-school Spanish immersion — would harm curriculum and community programs; petition, alumni testimonials and performance history were cited.
Michael Gillis, president of the Prior Lake Choir Boosters, told the board the proposed 2026–27 budget would cut the high-school choir staff from two directors to one and asked directors to prioritize students when considering staffing and future levy requests. “The current plan will reduce staffing at the high school from two choir directors to only one,” Gillis said, noting the program’s statewide and international achievements.
Adria Hedrick, a 2023 graduate who returned to coach the speech team, said the pair of choir directors produce a level of musicianship that could not be sustained by a single teacher. “It will be near impossible to achieve the same result with only one teacher,” she said, adding that the program’s rehearsal and performance load is the equivalent of several full-time positions.
Grace Galvez, a senior and current choir student, told the board a petition started days earlier had amassed nearly 1,000 signatures and asked the district to seek alternatives to splitting the two directors’ time. “This is just a small sliver of the amount of community members in favor of preserving a program that has meant so much to so many,” she said.
Several speakers also urged the board not to pause or weaken the Spanish immersion pathway. Ninth-grader Gisela described immersion as a long-term commitment that builds language skills over years and warned that removing a full year of instruction would “undo years of progress.” Rebecca and Richard Charts, speaking as parents, asked the board to maintain funding for the secondary immersion program for 2026–27 to allow students to continue through graduation.
Board members thanked speakers and said they would take community feedback into account as staff refine budget recommendations. Chair (voice 1) noted the public forum had been moved earlier in the agenda to ensure community voices were heard.
The meeting then proceeded to business items and a study session on budget and staffing. The board did not take immediate action on the public requests at the meeting; staff said recommendations and rationale for proposed staffing changes would be provided in the coming weeks.
