VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach School board members did not make any votes about district music programs at its Tuesday night meeting, though one board member told 10 On Your Side enrollment issues could lead to some cuts in the near future.
Board member Jessica Owens said leaders at Cox High School are considering cutting their chorus class for the upcoming school year, since not enough students signed up to take it. She said it is also possible that other staff could have their hours partially cut from music courses, making up the rest of their time in other subjects.
Owens made it clear, these decisions are not on the school board, but rather, tough decisions being made by individual school leaders. They are dealing with a lack of enrollment in some courses and overcrowding in others.
Superintendent Donald Robertson supported that statement.
“It’s just because kids are not selecting that class and you cannot run classes if they haven’t met the floor,” Robertson said. “The floor is the minimum number of kids that are necessary for the class to make.”
However, he said a big reason behind the problem is the lack of adequate funding from the state.
He told 10 On Your Side the school division only received an additional $545,000 over what it got last year.
He added that they got $20.4 million from the city and about $2.5 million from the federal government.
He said although that, in a way, saved them, they’re still in a hole with wage increases, inflation, and more.
“We cut department budgets, we cut school budgets, we froze positions. So, when they became vacant, we didn’t fill them.”
But he said the decision to cut or downsize on any electives is not up to the school district.
“But, as you know, you have X number of dollars coming in, or can have X number of dollars coming out. And how you use that money sometimes requires you to make some difficult decisions and that’s where we are. But we have given no edict to cut any programs. What we’ve done is we’ve given principals their allocations and based upon what their students are choosing to take next year, they are staffing their schools.”
A Virginia Beach mother, who is part of a concerned group of music teachers and parents, told 10 On Your Side she is disappointed to see what she calls a continuing pattern of downsizing music programs.
“For some reason, the division seems to believe that the fine arts do not give them the accolades they should give them,” Melinda Rogers said. “I will not stop advocating for fine arts in this division, I will not stop advocating for children to have access to the classes that they deserve to have.”
Owens and other parents worry that proposed tax cuts from the city council could cause more impacts to students in Virginia Beach.
Robertson told 10 On Your Side the district could be facing even more challenges if the city gives taxpayers a two cent reduction.
“So, for example, annually we replace 20 buses, we’re not planning on replacing any busses next year,” he said, “If your family and our kids are involved in extracurricular activities and you’re free, if you’re a reduced lunch student, it’s $50 per season. If you’re not free or reduced, it’s $100 per season.”
He encouraged concerned parents to reach out to their representatives for help.
