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Blue Valley speakers urge board to keep fifth‑grade strings as district cites $18M special‑education shortfall
Summary
At the March 9 Blue Valley Board of Education meeting, lawmakers, students and parents urged the board not to cut fifth‑grade strings, linking the threat to a roughly $18 million annual district shortfall for special‑education costs that Dr. Chapman said the district currently covers from its general fund.
At the March 9 meeting of the Blue Valley Board of Education, more than a dozen parents, students and two state legislators urged the board to preserve the district’s fifth‑grade strings program as part of wider budget deliberations.
“Johnson County Schools alone are shorted $60,000,000 and Blue Valley Schools are shorted 18,” Representative Mary Lynn Poskin told the board during the public forum, saying the legislature’s underfunding of special education is driving local cuts. “That is why we’re having this conversation tonight about fifth‑grade strings.”
Superintendent Dr. Chapman framed the local budget problem in dollar terms. “We are transferring $18,000,000 in order to cover the cost of special ed that has been underfunded by the state,” she said, describing a pattern of annual transfers—$16 million last year, $14 million the year before—that reduce the district’s reserves and discretionary capacity.
Speakers said the strings program is not an extracurricular luxury but a contributory academic and social program. Clay Schafer, a district volunteer and former board president for BVEF, described music as a source of belonging and life skills: “If we want to develop leaders of tomorrow, we have to start instilling those qualities today.”
Current and former students gave personal examples. “Fifth grade was prime time to start orchestra,” said Ella Valick, an eighth grader, and Carter Velicides, a recent graduate and aspiring music teacher, said early orchestra access built skills and friendships that sustained his college‑level music involvement.
Music teachers and supporters emphasized that Blue Valley’s elementary strings are a long‑standing program with measurable downstream outcomes. “We are recognized nationally for our music education,” Sherry Kane said. She noted district elementary reading scores and argued the program supports broader academic performance.
Board members asked staff for fiscal details during a preceding presentation by contract lobbyist Patty Markley and Dr. Chapman about pending state legislation. Board members pressed staff on likely local costs from proposed policies—income‑verification requirements for free‑and‑reduced meal programs, expanded vouchers and stricter device rules—that speakers said could worsen the district’s fiscal squeeze.
Dr. Chapman urged constituents to press lawmakers in Topeka: “We have already made the reductions that we can…this is an issue for our legislature,” she said, asking residents to register and contact their representatives.
No final vote on the strings program was held at the meeting. The board recorded public comment and approved the consent agenda and multiple policy and contract items later in the session. Officials said budget and fee schedule items will return for further consideration at upcoming board meetings.
What’s next: board staff said fee‑schedule proposals and longer‑term budget options will be on the April agenda; advocates were encouraged to contact state legislators before the session’s adjournment.
