BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – As Broward County Public Faculties braces for state price range selections and grapples with declining enrollment, district leaders say they’re working to protect the humanities — even whereas making troublesome selections.
At Maplewood Elementary in Coral Springs, the every day music program is being discontinued. As a replacement, college students may have entry to an after-school refrain membership.
“We completely perceive the ideas of the mother and father,” mentioned Angela Fulton, Deputy Superintendent of Instructing and Studying. “The humanities are essential to our college students, vital to us, so we are going to proceed to verify our college students don’t miss out on something, discovering different artistic methods to verify the course program continues for the scholars at Maplewood.”
The complete-time music trainer mentioned she is not going to switch to a different faculty, however stays employed inside the district.
“As you understand it isn’t a secret enrollment is definitely lower than in earlier years,” Fulton mentioned. “In order we make powerful selections we wish to be sure that it doesn’t have large cuts to our college students.”
To fill the hole at Maplewood, the college is popping to a workers member already on campus.
“Whereas they’re shedding their every day music program, they really have an incredible refrain program that has been beloved in the neighborhood,” Fulton mentioned. “So to increase that we’ve got a workers member on campus that has been a 30-year music trainer that’s going to increase his skills to have the ability to proceed the music program … A P.E. coach who was a music trainer for 30 years.”
At Cooper Metropolis Excessive Faculty, Jason Cochrac, a longtime band director often known as “Mr. C” is shifting to a part-time function attributable to a lower in scholar curiosity in music electives for the upcoming faculty yr.
Associated hyperlink: Cooper City High School’s longtime band director honored by community, Local 10 News
“As college students create their pursuits after they chosen their programs, so there wasn’t an curiosity in our college students in our 2025-2026 faculty yr to proceed that full-time,” Fulton mentioned. “We did have an curiosity in part-time, but when curiosity will increase that can positively be checked out as nicely. My band program from my understanding solely equated to a half-time program.”
Even with the adjustment, this system can nonetheless take part in soccer video games, competitions and different performances.
Rebecca Thompson, a board member at CCHS emphasised that no official board motion has been taken to get rid of music or artwork applications.
“If a course is minimize it’s sometimes attributable to college students selecting different electives,” she mentioned. “The superb factor about our public faculties is that we’ve got so many choices for college kids that typically they could select to do robotics as a substitute of a band class.”
“We’re positively working to guard arts and music,” Fulton added. “We actually wish to be sure that we shield that have for our college students as a result of it actually develops our college students to be well-rounded. So we worth the humanities and we wish to make certain we proceed the custom of the whole lot we’ve got been offering over time.”
“I wish to be very clear,” Thompson mentioned. “There is no such thing as a board motion that has been taken that’s reducing our arts and our music program.”
She pointed to Coral Cove Elementary in Miramar, which is being transformed right into a Okay-8 middle this fall, for instance of funding within the arts.
“They’re centered on … in order that they have a musical program, artwork applications and band and the whole lot like that and placed on performances, so mother and father have selections,” Thompson mentioned.
However the district’s remaining programming selections are nonetheless awaiting readability from Tallahassee, because the Florida Legislature continues to hash out the state price range.
“We get our funding clearly per scholar primarily based on allocation,” Thompson mentioned. “So if we’re shedding enrollment at sure faculties, then principals should make some arduous selections on what programs will be supplied. However I do wish to say once more there isn’t a board motion reducing these superb applications. In truth, there are faculties which might be increasing it.”
“Our funding is clearly the bulk from the state, however proper now, the state continues to be going over its price range. It’s sometimes carried out by now, they maintain pushing it off, they’ve totally different opinions between the state Senate and the Home,” Thompson added. “So actually, we’re getting new info day by day about what we are able to really spend in our faculty, which as you possibly can think about makes vital impacts to the programming, what number of lecturers we are able to have, what sort of renovations we are able to have — so we’re actually simply ready on a remaining response from that.”
“We want it by the top of this month as a result of that’s when the fiscal yr ends and that’s when we’ve got to determine our price range,” she mentioned. “They promised it will likely be quickly.”
Further associated Hyperlinks:
• USC study: Music education supports youth wellbeing
• UF: Why art education matters – improved grades, tolerance, and engagement
• Catterall’s research on long-term benefits of arts education
• ArtsEdSearch: Explore studies on the impact of the arts in schools
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