No Changes to Music Education at CHS

Late Wednesday afternoon, June 2, emails were flying between parents of students involved in the music department and in CHSMPA (the Columbia High School Music Parents' Association). Parents were reporting that students who had enrolled in AP Music Theory for the fall were being called into the guidance office and asked to select another class.

They were also reporting that the Choral Director position (the position that teaches the AP Music Theory class) was being cut from a FTE (full-time employee) to a .6 or part-time position, necessitating the cut of the AP Music Theory class.

CHSMPA President Tina Squyres wrote this in an email: "The open CHS Choral director position has been listed on the school district's job posting webpage as a part-time position (.6 FTE). Whether or not you have a student in the choral program, this is a situation that effects everyone in our community who values music education. Balancing the school budget at the expense of music education is not a precedent that should be set."

Squyres then urged concerned parents to contact the superintendent of schools (Brian Osborne) and members of the Board of Education, protesting the action.

Response from the school district was swift. By Thursday afternoon, Squyres was reporting that "the Choir Director position is being restored to a full-time position for next year and the AP Music Theory class is being reinstated."

She noted that she had "had two very productive conversations with Superintendent Brian Osborne today. Those conversations coupled with the numerous calls to his office from concerned parents and community members resulted in Mr. Osborne re-examining the proposed cuts and re-crunching the numbers. As a result he has reinstated the Choir Director to a full-time position which includes AP Music Theory as part of the curriculum." (Patch checked the district's website and the music teacher/choral director job description has been re-posted as full-time.)

Squyres continued: "Mr. Osborne asked me to convey that he considers arts programming an important part of the CHS curriculum, and he acknowledged its importance to our community. However, he also cautioned me that the budget process is going to get more difficult with each passing year and that unfortunately this is a conversation that may have to be re-visited again. So while the outcome for next year is a happy one, we should all keep an eye on the ongoing budget process."

When asked to comment, Superintendent Osborne simply told Patch, "There will be no change to music education next year."