District officials are considering reformatting the elementary music program to accommodate a music teacher loss and assuage parents concerned that the previous program turned children off to music in middle and high school.
At the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, staff announced they were considering a new version of the elementary music program, proposed switching from weekly 50-minute instrument instruction for fourth, fifth and sixth graders to general music appreciation for 35 minutes every other week for fifth- and sixth-graders only. Once finalized, any changes will take place starting at the beginning of the 2008-09 school year on Aug. 19.
For the upcoming school year, the district has one floating music teacher for the nine elementary schools.
The district began working closely with the parents after the June 24 school board meeting, when music booster parents expressed their concerns about a decrease in middle school band offerings the district was considering and its effect on the high school band program.
Parents and the district met several times in late June and July to reach a compromise on how to administer music at the elementary and middle school levels.
As a result of the collaboration between the parents and district staff, officials decided to reconfigure the elementary music program and restore the two band periods at Britton and Martin Murphy middle schools.
A group of parents of music students addressed the school board Tuesday night to express their satisfaction with the proposed changes, since it's the most district officials could do in light of budget cuts. Anticipating $3 million in cuts thanks to the state's $14 billion budget shortfall, the school district approved cuts in May that resulted in the loss of an elementary music teacher.
The loss of the elementary music teacher exacerbated band parents' complaints that the elementary program was ill-executed, and was partly the reason Live Oak High School and Britton band teacher Greg Bergantz chose to resign and take a position at Moreland School District starting in the fall.
Because of the music teacher loss, the district had considered shrinking the middle school music program from two courses to one, combining the cadet and advanced band classes. To keep Bergantz and fellow middle and high school band teacher Eric Kalish full time, Bergantz said the idea was being thrown around that the two would take on elementary school lessons as well, making for a larger workload for Bergantz.
Live Oak High School Band Booster members are organizing an after-school, pay-to-play instrument education program through their organization. Parents, along with Bergantz, have complained that the previous elementary instrument instruction was poorly executed, with not enough time to organize an effective class. Because of this, parents like Mike Tatarakis said the elementary program turned students off to music, causing fewer "feeder" students for middle and high school music classes.
According to the staff report, "the goal of this program is to provide students with standards-based foundational skills, music appreciation to spark students to pursue their study of music and a strong link to the secondary music program."
Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot said the credit goes to the parents and Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Michael Johnson.
"He worked like crazy for the last few weeks," Smoot said of Johnson.
Trustee Bart Fisher said the proposal was "a very good solution to what is an almost intractable dilemma."
Fisher said music funding will always be a problem, despite the importance of music's role in education.
Along with the 35 minutes every other week of instruction per class, the music teacher will provide elementary teachers with music appreciation staff development. This move might provide classroom teachers with the know-how to take on music appreciation on their own, if the district chooses to eliminate the elementary music program in the future, if it faces more budget cuts.
Natalie Everett Natalie Everett covers education and city issues for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106, ext. 201, or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.
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