Students urge Vermilion Local board to preserve high‑school art classes as budget cuts loom

Dozens of students and student‑group leaders urged the Vermilion Local Board of Education on April 13 to reconsider cuts to the high‑school art program, saying the loss of one teacher would halve curricular and extracurricular opportunities and harm students' social and emotional development.

A sequence of students speaking during public comment described how art classes and after‑school art groups provide them with community, confidence and career direction. The first speaker, who identified herself at the end of her remarks as "K.," said cutting half of the art curriculum would mean "half the students learning new skills" and argued that visual art builds fine motor skills, hand‑eye coordination and creative thinking. "This is something fine art develops better than any other thing," she said.

Summer Ellis, a junior and vice president of the National Art Honor Society, said art had helped her through bullying and contributed to friendships and self‑expression. Jordan S., another junior and student‑body vice president of the art society, described winning awards and noted that budget cuts would reduce the club to a senior‑only program rather than open membership.

Speakers named several staff who support art programs — including Miss Schneider and Miss Kid — and asked the board to consider the broader community effects (murals, the annual art fair, and exhibitions). Several students linked the program reductions to the district's budget pressures and urged voters and trustees to support a future levy; a board member responded by encouraging passage of a levy in November to help restore or protect programs.

The board thanked students for their remarks and did not take immediate action on program staffing at the meeting.