Supporters of the Morgan Hill School District’s music programs
turned out in large numbers Monday night to beat the drum for the
district’s elementary music program, which was placed on the
chopping block last month, along with other items, as Board of
Education trustees faced a possible $1.6 million shortfall in the
2004-2005 general fund budget.
Supporters of the Morgan Hill School District’s music programs turned out in large numbers Monday night to beat the drum for the district’s elementary music program, which was placed on the chopping block last month, along with other items, as Board of Education trustees faced a possible $1.6 million shortfall in the 2004-2005 general fund budget.
District students, parents and community members sporting colored squares of paper with musical notes stamped on them told board members during Monday’s meeting that to cut the $120,000 necessary for the elementary program would be the death knell for music programs at the secondary level.
No budget cuts were on the agenda for Monday’s meeting.
Nine music supporters, including four students, told trustees the music program is a vital part of the fabric of the district.
“In 1971, when the Emerald Regime was founded, it was kind-of a ragtag group,” said Devin McCutchen, a Live Oak High junior who has recently been named one of the two Emerald Regime drum majors for next year. “It quickly grew to become a world class band … You (the board) made a commitment to have an elementary music program … There is a direct correlation between having an elementary band program and a great high school program … It might not be the most important thing, but there is having pride, having dedication and having music education.”
The district’s current elementary music program serves students in grades four through six, with all students participating. In fourth grade, students are together as a group for choir and general music instruction. In fifth grade, students and their parents may choose to continue with choir, or select an instrument and move to band. All students continue to participate; for those students who choose band and are unable to buy or rent an instrument, the district will provide one from a selection of instruments which the district owns.
Both middle schools, Britton and Martin Murphy, have band opportunities, including advanced band, cadet band and, at Britton, jazz band.
Live Oak High offers not only the Emerald Regime Marching Band but also concert band, jazz band, a pit orchestra and choir, a new offering this year.
Devin’s father, Jim McCutchen, backed up his son’s claims to the links between music and academic success with research, by going on the Internet, he told trustees, searching for a connection.
“What I found backed up what I felt intuitively,” he said. “The College Board, which administers the SATs, reported it found year after year a correlation between music and excellence on the exams. This also applies to low income students. They, in particular, had an achievement (in math) of more than double the students who didn’t have music.”
Stacy Faulk, an 11-year-old Barrett student had a suggestion for trustees.
“Maybe if we were going to band and choir every two weeks and had a concert once a year, we could save money,” she said. “I want my brothers and sisters to be able to be in it (the music program), too. I hope you will consider my suggestion.”
Britton ninth grader Emily Tewes, who, with the recently-formed middle school Emerald Regime color guard group, won awards at several color guard competitions, asked trustees to consider carefully before cutting the music program.
“I have been in the music program for three years,” she said Monday night. “I have experienced many opportunities that I would not have otherwise been able to experience. To destroy (the music program) would be drastic … Please don’t cut my options.”
Long-time district music supporter and former Live Oak Boosters President Don Moody echoed Emily’s plea.
“Please don’t be shortsighted and eliminate something that serves so many student in our district,” he said.
Several prominent members of the district’s secondary music programs booster organizations, including a still-active parent of a Live Oak graduate, told trustees they would be making a serious mistake to cut the music program. And Natasha Price, a junior at Live Oak and member of the Emerald Regime, tearfully told trustees, as she read their mission statement and philosophy statement to them, that she hoped they would allow “other students the opportunity to participate in a great program and learn what it is like to work together as a team.”
