Residents, students urge board to preserve elementary band and orchestra amid budget talks

Dozens of residents, parents and students told the Mukwonago Area School District board on March 23 that the district should preserve elementary band and orchestra rather than reduce music to extracurricular status.

At the start of public comment, Andrea Kokott said the community is ‘‘asking you, our school board, to exercise responsibility in bloated areas of spend, specifically surrounding non-teaching administrative costs’’ and urged the board to review administrative growth before cutting student-facing programs.

Several speakers directly urged the board not to cut elementary music. Jonathan Kamenar, who identified himself by name, said removing fine-arts instruction in elementary grades would deny students chances to discover and develop musical skills. Liesel, a freshman at Mukwonago High School, cited research and district data tying music participation to higher ACT scores and said she collected roughly 100 student signatures supporting music in two class periods.

Parent speakers emphasized scholarship and achievement outcomes tied to music. Angie Gellish, who said Mukwonago’s solo-ensemble results regularly place the district ‘‘among the best in the state,’’ warned that losing early instrumental instruction will reduce future scholarship opportunities. Kim Fickau said a Save Mukwonago Music Program petition had 601 signatures (a subsequent speaker read it as 609) and implored the board not to make music an extracurricular option that would force families to choose.

Students also spoke of music’s nonacademic benefits. Marlena Warner, a sixth grader at Prairie View Elementary, said music ‘‘helps with emotional regulation and helps reduce stress’’ and asked the board to keep fourth- and fifth-grade band and orchestra.

Board-staff responses during the meeting focused on process and context rather than immediate reversals. Chief Financial Officer Tom reviewed district-wide budget pressures later in the meeting and stated that the district was not proposing an FTE reduction in music: "We are not proposing a cut in FTE for music, band, orchestra or choir. We are not proposing a cut in FTE for music, band, orchestra or choir," he told the board.

Why it matters: Music advocates said the program has produced state qualifiers and substantial scholarship dollars and that removing early exposure will reduce long-term participation and performance. Petition counts and speakers’ research citations were presented as evidence of community opposition; the board and staff said they will continue budget work and bring options back to the board in April and May.

What’s next: The board directed staff to return with tighter recommendations on music programming in April and to consider additional community input; an action item on a recommended course of action is expected in June. No formal policy change or vote on cutting music occurred during the March 23 meeting.