Students and parents urge district to save elementary music as budget moves forward

At the May 13 budget committee meeting, students and parents urged the Gresham‑Barlow School District to preserve elementary music after administrators proposed reductions.

Ethan Carter, a senior in the Gresham High band program, told the committee that participation had grown "from 50 to 90, and now surpass 100" since 2023–24 and warned that "staff removal by seniority is unilaterally crippling the music program at all levels." Several other students and parents described music as essential to attendance, mental health and opportunity: "Music education keeps her going to school," said Penelope Pearl Boehme, recounting how band directors supported her during depressive episodes.

Superintendent Dr. Tracy Klinger acknowledged the depth of feeling and framed the reductions as the result of months of work intended to preserve core services and meet state mandates. She said the proposals were designed to "maintain a full student school year and meet all state mandates," while warning that restoring half‑time music positions would leave no reserves for the fall without offsets.

Community advocates offered specific requests for smaller adjustments rather than full eliminations: one parent suggested reducing an administrator position or cutting time for certain roles to free funds equivalent to roughly $46,000, and other speakers urged prioritizing half‑time elementary music so programs could continue while the district stabilizes finances.

The committee heard these comments during the public‑comment period but voted 9–5 to approve the proposed budget later in the evening.