During a meeting Tuesday night, members of the Mesa Public Schools governing board chose not to cut general music classes for fourth, fifth and sixth graders.
The decision came after an outpouring of concerns from the community.
Earlier this month, the district announced it would have to cut expenses by about $18 million next year due to a decline in enrollment. This week, concerned students packed the governing board meeting room, and several testified about the positive experiences they had in music classes.
Prior to the meeting, Mesa parent Emma Giffen started a petition that got more than 3,000 signatures in just a few days. She said the board decided to use $1.3 million from the carry forward fund to save those classes, at least for the next year.
“The great news about that is A: it’s intact, and B: now we have time as parents, teachers, the board to work together, mobilize and figure out how we can keep it so it stays cemented," Giffen said.
That could include coming up with ways to boost enrollment numbers. Giffen said some people were worried that high school music programs wouldn’t perform as well if cuts were made at lower grade levels.
“We spoke to multiple choir directors, band directors, orchestra teachers and the quality of musicians that they get stems directly from the 4th-6th band, orchestra and music education," Giffen said. "So it was a huge win for us.”
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