Brockton subcommittee hears music and arts year-in-review; staffing, scheduling and instrument access cited as constraints

Rebecca Desmond, Brockton Public Schools' director of music for K–12, and Sarah Richards, director of art, gave the Athletics, Arts, Music and Extracurricular Activities Subcommittee a detailed account of the district's work this year and the gaps that remain.

Desmond said performing ensembles toured and competed this year: the marching band’s show, “Signature Sounds,” attended UMass Band Day; Brockton High senior jazz earned a gold and was invited to perform at the Boston Hatshell on May 3; multiple ensembles earned gold and silver medals at regional festivals. She described a new fourth‑grade arts-integrated program hosted by the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and said the department has begun K–12 scope-and-sequence work and culturally responsive repertoire review to broaden student access.

The music director told members the chief constraints to earlier elementary instruction are staffing and scheduling. “We don’t know what the middle‑school schedule is going to look like next year,” Desmond said; restoring fifth‑grade or fourth‑grade instrument instruction would require adding a full‑time traveling elementary teacher, she said, noting that three instrumental staff currently cover roughly 28 elementary classes. Desmond also reported donations and partnerships—new digital pianos and percussion from the Janasic Foundation, and a pending transfer of instruments from Southeastern—while acknowledging that scholarship‑instrument distribution is still largely handled by word-of-mouth and needs formalization.

Richards told the subcommittee the visual arts program is participating in year one of a three‑year Arts & Cultural Vitality self-assessment (DESIE grant). She highlighted partnerships with the South Shore Arts Center, the Fuller Craft Museum and UMass Dartmouth, where 11 Brockton students were selected for a juried 2026 exhibition. Richards said the department has improved adaptive art for high‑need learners, secured new digital photography lab computers and plans the annual high‑school art show (May 5–8).

Committee members repeatedly pressed for participation and staffing data to justify returning instrument instruction to earlier grades. One member urged the subcommittee to obtain exact counts comparing current elementary and middle‑school participation before asking the full committee to consider budget changes. Desmond said she will pursue clearer inventory records, grant opportunities and community partnerships to expand instrument access.

Longtime band leader and alumnus Vinnie McCrina recounted Brockton’s history of large marching bands and high participation and argued that standards and centralized scheduling that once supported continuity have weakened. “When a kid picks up a trumpet…that kid’s doing six things at once,” McCrina said, urging restored expectations, stronger parental engagement and sustained booster fundraising to rebuild the program’s earlier scale and quality.

Next steps: members asked staff to gather participation numbers, detailed staffing needs and cost estimates for restoring elementary instrument instruction; the drama club was added to the next agenda for a presentation on its large student participation and upcoming performances.