Music boosters seeking to raise $250K over next five years

Unwilling to accept cuts made by the Montevideo School Board this year to the high school instrumental and elementary/middle school vocal music programs, the Montevideo Music Boosters are attempting to raise approximately $50,000 for each of the next five years to reverse the reductions.

The music boosters are seeking to reinstate a .5 FTE (full-time equivalent) instrumental music instructor position, and a .225 FTE elementary/middle school vocal music position.

Each level of music education builds on the next according to Ellen Moore, chair of the Montevideo Music Boosters.

“Without a strong K-5 music program, students will be ill-prepared to begin reading notes, singing complex harmonies, or learning an instrument in sixth grade,” says Moore.

Moore and her membership think that the proposed cuts will be the beginning of a steady erosion of the curriculum that will eventually lead to mediocrity. Moore said the goal is to maintain five instrumental lessons per student per quarter.

The $250,000 amount came about as a result of discussions between the boosters and Dr. Luther Heller, superintendent of schools. Funds raised must cover not only current costs, but any increases.

Heller told school board members at their June 14 meeting that he had selected the five-year period because of the issue of sustainability.

“We can’t do this on a year-to-year basis,” said Heller.

At a meeting that morning, Moore and John Sellner told Heller they thought that the group would be able to fully fund the effort by mid-July. Originally they thought they would have commitments in place by the June board meeting, but efforts were dealt a setback when Geoff Hathaway, who was spearheading the fundraising efforts, suffered a severe stroke June 6.

Heller informed board members that time was an issue as building principals were already working on next year’s class schedules.

Board member Darin Balken said he was “really reluctant to wait too long out of consideration for the high school staff and scheduling.”

Balken also stated he understood how good the situation had been the last few years, but that as a board member he had to be sold on maintaining the status quo in view of current budget constraints.

Contrary to misperceptions circulating in the community and on some Facebook pages, marching band, jazz band and the percussion ensemble are not being eliminated.

The elementary music program is going from five days a week to four in grades K-3. Fourth grade will take a bigger reduction, going from 25 minutes per day for the entire year to 25 minutes a day for a semester. Fourth-grade choir will also be eliminated.

In fifth grade, the choir is being eliminated, as well, and students will have 50 minutes of instruction every other day for a semester. The seventh-grade general music elective has also been eliminated.

As Heller explained the situation, “The big reduction will come in band lessons.” There will be no class period for the percussion ensemble, a decision of the music staff, so it would go back to how it was prior to two years ago, he said.

An issue for rural areas is that the band directors are often the only teachers available for students learning a particular instrument, noted Moore. Ron Stary, whose position was cut from a FTE to .5 FTE, was the only one in town to teach tuba and trombone, and he has taken a position with the school district in Brookings, S.D.

Heller pointed out that participation in band had dropped by almost 50 percent with no corresponding staffing reduction over the past 10 years.

High school vocal music instructor Dan Hampton told board members the five-year plan is to get participation back up. The fear, he said, is that having only a .5 FTE instrumental instruc­tor position will result in more enrollment losses.

Balken told supporters he thought they needed to talk to students and find out why they are not participating in band.

Looking at the bigger picture, board member Andrew Stenson said he was concerned about the potential impact fundraising could have on passage of an operating levy referendum in the near future. He asked whether it might be better to pool the efforts the music boosters, as well as other program supporters such as swimming, to push for passage of a new operating levy that would benefit the entire district rather than a few programs.

Moore noted later in an e-mail to the American-News that she is “pretty confident in saying that the folks who have been pledging to the fund are strong supporters of music education and public education. These are not people who are going to vote no when/if the referendum comes around.”

Supporters of the fundraising effort are inspired by a similar effort in Willmar, according to Moore.

“The eagerness of donors to help has been truly remarkable, and it illustrates how much the music program means to folks, especially to the alumni,” says Rick Mohagen, who has been assisting with the fundraising effort.

The Montevideo Lions voted at their meeting Monday to contribute $1,000 annually for up to five years.

All donations to the fund are tax deductible. Anyone wishing to donate to the fund, is asked to contact Moore (320) 269-3181 or Mohagen (320) 269-8835.