Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elementary Music topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents, teachers and students urge Gresham-Barlow to preserve elementary music amid proposed cuts
Summary
Dozens of parents, volunteers and students urged the Budget Committee to retain elementary music taught by licensed educators, citing instructional standards, social-emotional benefits and a community petition. A teacher proposed a half-time alternative costing an estimated $650,000 in savings.
Dozens of parents, volunteers and students told the Gresham-Barlow Budget Committee they want elementary music preserved and taught by licensed music educators rather than replaced by unlicensed staff. Multiple speakers cited instructional and social-emotional benefits, and one community member pointed to state law requiring arts instruction.
“ORS 329.045 states that districts and public charters must offer students instruction in the arts and must meet academic content standards,” longtime resident Susie Jones told the committee, urging members to consider legal compliance if elementary music is reduced. Parents and students described the role music played in literacy, math, and emotional regulation; one student, Penelope Pearl Boehme, said playing in band “has been life changing and life-saving for me.”
Peter Nilsen-Goodin, an elementary music teacher at Hogan Cedars Elementary, offered a costed alternative to eliminating elementary music entirely: reducing classroom time to half time to retain roughly half of the music teachers. He said the half-time model “would save $650,000 and the district would only need to come up with $45,750,” and urged the committee to examine that option before final decisions.
Speakers included parents, long-time volunteers, retired music educators, a parent-team leader and numerous current students and band council members who warned cuts would shrink enrollment and diminish opportunities for students. The committee collected written comments into the public packet and indicated public testimony would inform further budget deliberations.
