Letter from former Student Voices Leaders!

Superintendent Cammack,

Hello! We are Nadja and Esha, Juniors from Irvington High School and Mission San Jose High School, respectively. We are requesting to be agendized by the FUSD School Board, and that the asks below regarding arts education be considered. 

Through an arts education, students gain emotional intelligence, creativity, time management, problem-solving, collaboration, and leadership goals.  Furthermore, we are in the midst of a mental health crisis, as one in three high school students have reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, according to the US Surgeon General. An arts education enhances students’ mental well-being and motivates them to be engaged with school. Arts education also promotes creativity, as well as other skills that are key to success in any field. California is also the creative capital of the world, and by providing FUSD students with an equitable arts education, you are preparing students to succeed in those jobs. As support for the arts will help provide equitable opportunities to students and prepare them with the skills required to succeed, it is in the school board’s best interest to see to the following asks.

Asks:

We kindly ask that the Superintendent and the FUSD School Board enact the asks described below. 

1. Hire a Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator
2. Hire Full-time Middle School and Junior High School Music Teachers
3. Put in Place Elementary School Music Programs
4. Increase Funding for Equitable Arts Education Across all Schools

Hire a Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator:

Our first request of the district is to hire a Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Coordinator. Hiring a VAPA Coordinator is essential to the success of art and music programs throughout our district, and doing so would show the board’s support for arts education in FUSD. FUSD is also one of the very few districts that do not currently have a VAPA Coordinator. The district’s VAPA coordinator will oversee visual and performing arts in our district, as well as help plan activities related to the arts. A VAPA coordinator will help support the arts in FUSD by directing the implementation of financial funding and filling out grants. This will allow VAPA programs throughout our district to receive more funding, which is possibly the greatest issue FUSD art and music programs currently face. By supporting the arts, a VAPA coordinator will also help promote cultural understanding, as art and culture go hand in hand when forming the communities in FUSD. Some programs in FUSD can fund personnel that help write grants for their art and music programs, which is not equitable to the other programs in FUSD. Teachers are not trained on writing grants and, as it takes a lot of time, should not be expected to do so. Furthermore, the programs that can afford to do so are those in affluent areas where parent donations play a major role in the funding they receive for the arts. A VAPA coordinator would help alleviate this inequity by ensuring that all programs and schools across the district are receiving the funding that they need to run successful visual and performing arts programs. 

Hire Full-time Middle School and Junior High Music Teachers:

We also ask that the district hire full-time music teachers at all junior high schools and middle schools in FUSD. Currently, Walters Middle School and Centerville Junior High have part-time music teachers, and having full-time music teachers at these schools would greatly improve their music programs. A full-time music teacher is key to an enriching music program, and it is inequitable not to have them at two FUSD sites. Music teachers already put a great deal of their time into their programs, and having one teacher cover two schools borders on impossible. A full-time music teacher would also promote more community and give students positive motivation to attend school. When the bands from FUSD perform well in competitions, it reflects well on the whole district. With a full-time music teacher, students would have access to more music classes, increasing the number of students actively participating in the arts in FUSD. Hiring full-time music teachers at the junior high schools and middle schools in FUSD would promote the FUSD Board’s mission of providing equitable opportunities to educate and inspire all students.

Elementary School Music Programs:

Additionally, we ask that the district puts in place elementary school music programs throughout the district. Introducing students to the arts when they are young is crucial to keeping them involved in the arts as they get older. Scaffolded learning beginning in elementary school would provide students the building blocks for success as they moved into more advanced classes. One of the priorities in FUSD’S LCAP is to increase student engagement, and involvement in the arts from a young age has been proven to do so. This is especially key to students with low socioeconomic status, enacting elementary school music programs throughout FUSD will increase the equitable opportunities being offered to students throughout the district. 

Increase Funding for Equitable Arts Programs across All Schools:

Finally, we ask that the district increase the funding it gives to visual and performing art programs in FUSD. Current programs, especially at a high school level, are incredibly underfunded. Art classes require supplies to teach students, and classrooms are not given enough funding from the district. Art and music teachers are donating thousands of dollars of their own money into their programs so that they can function at their fullest potential. This demonstrates the need for more funding, as well as how devoted FUSD art teachers are. They need support from the district to be able to run their art and music programs, and an increase in funding would help do so. 

Conclusion:

Support from the district is essential to maintaining successful art and music programs at all grade levels throughout the district. By fulfilling the asks described above, the district will also be fulfilling its LCAP goals by providing a positive educational environment, increasing the academic achievement of all students, encouraging student engagement, and increasing parent and community engagement. The arts are a core subject, and we know that the district can treat it as such. 

 

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Nadja and Esha 

(Fremont School District)