Eight times every week, the sounds of silence at Dana Gray Elementary will be replaced with the return of windy toots of kids playing the recorder, after a move last week by the Fort Bragg Unified School District board.
OK, there is never really silence at Dana Gray, but thanks to the last round of Obama stimulus money, the district voted to rehire two office employees and give hours back to the music and art teachers at Dana Gray.
The district actually got good news from both federal and state sources, more than enough to restore all the cuts they made at the end of last school year. But the district chose to save as much money as possible for the future, rather than restore all the cut funding.
Political observers say no more stimulus is likely in the foreseeable future. And the district has a historic penchant for fiscal conservatism, audits have found.
After hearing about long hours being worked and trouble looming for the future inside the front offices, the trustees voted to restore office assistants at Fort Bragg High and Redwood Elementary School.
Effective next week, the board restored hours to music teacher John Gilmore and art teacher Barbara Pedersen at Dana Gray. Gilmore moves from .40 back to .60 part time, while Pedersen moves back to .50 part time.
While the small adjustments don”t sound like much, they mean both teachers are again eligible for benefits. For third and fourth grade music students, the restorations mean one-third more classes. For other teachers, it will mean they get preparation time back that was lost due to the cuts in hours to the two part-timers.
The art and music program has gotten lots of public support after being on the chopping block in each of the last few years, due to the way the positions are funded. Although the board has finagled ways to keep the teachers each year, they have been mortified to get layoff notices and to be the center of attention over financial problems that originate in Sacramento.
In addition to $359,641 in federal stimulus money, the district also got good news from the newly approved state budget. Removal of a negative cost of living adjustment (related to the per student payment that school districts get) meant $400,000 was put back in the FBUSD budget.
The move by the state Legislature meant reversals of massive layoffs in more troubled districts.
“Art teacher Barbara Pedersen and I have been very grateful to be employed at all in these terrible times, but it”s been rough, bordering on unsustainable, to lose benefits and salary while paying COBRA at the same time,” Gilmore told the board.
Gilmore gave the board a big thank you after the vote to restore the positions, but hopes a way can be found to avoid the turmoil in the future, which trustees said they could not promise. He hopes the people who have supported the programs will continue to do so.
“The board can decide at any time to commit at least the federal money to sustaining art and music. There is space at the beginning of each meeting for public comment on anything, there is space in administrators” and board members” mail and email boxes, and there always seems to be generous space in your paper,” Gilmore said.
What about private funding?
“The community could also fundraise, but this seems more precarious and difficult — especially in these lean, mean times — than guiding the district in allocating what seem to be ample resources for at least next as well as this year,” said Gilmore. “It would be wonderful, though, if there were a substantial and self-perpetuating fundraising entity.”
What was the actual impact of the cuts in the classroom?
“In going from 60 percent to 40 percent, music was reduced by a third. At 60 percent there were 24 half-hour classes per week, so at 40 percent there have been 16. Eight classes were eliminated by cutting fourth-grade music from two to one class per week and by eliminating plans for a second third-grade class so that third grades could also meet twice a week. Fifth grade has been unchanged at two meetings per week,” Gilmore said.
In a move unrelated to the budget, Dana Gray is also hiring a half-time third grade teacher. To do so while keeping the music and art teachers below the half-time benefits threshold could present problems, Superintendent Don Armstrong told the board.
Much of the support for restoring the art and music classes has come from trustees, community members and teachers who cite studies that show music and art are crucial to development of the mind of students at the fourth and fifth grade levels.
“The fourth grade reduction has been particularly detrimental. By meeting twice a week, fourth graders have for years been able to take significant steps in learning to read and perform music using percussion, keyboards, recorders, and their voices,” Gilmore said.
“This work has prepared students for band and chorus as well as for using keyboards they sometimes receive as gifts without lessons. Hopefully, it has also helped them find ways to appreciate and use music in their lives, even if they never continue playing it,” Gilmore said.
