MADISON — Parents of 4th and 5th graders are protesting potential schedule changes next year that could significantly decrease the amount of arts and world language instruction these students receive.
According to a summary document from the Jan. 3 meeting of the Parents Representative Council, 4th and 5th graders are expected to go from having Spanish class every other day to once a week – a drop from 90 days to 36 days of instruction. Music classes will drop from 60 days to 36 days per year, and instruction in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math — STEAM — will decrease from 60 to 36 days per year.
Art instruction will remain the same. Physical Education will drop from 90 days to 72 days per year. Theater, which is now taught once a week, will be eliminated completely.
The document stated that the district wanted to maintain a two-teacher model, known as “teaming,” for the fourth and fifth graders, and to make sure that students at Brown and at the newly opened Neck River Elementary School were receiving equal amounts of arts and language instruction. It noted that having seven grades at Neck River made scheduling difficult, and that arts teachers had to coordinate between Neck River and Brown.
Superintendent Craig Cooke told CT Examiner that having to schedule arts classes for all the Pre-K through 5th grades was difficult, since the state would not approve an elementary building that had more than one art classroom.
Cooke also underscored that the proposed schedule was not yet finalized — he said that the district was in the process of talking to 150 teachers to get their feedback on the proposal.
The document does note that the district plans to increase Spanish instruction at the Pre-K and Kindergarten levels, and add STEM and computer coding for grades K-3. The time that 4th and 5th graders are no longer spending on arts and languages will be used to increase teaching time for science and social studies.
Cooke said that the district needed to increase its instruction time in social studies and science, areas where he said they had not budgeted enough time in the past. Changes to state standards, he said, also required more focus on those subjects.
A communication from the Brown Parent Teacher Organization posted on Facebook on Dec. 21 referred to the change as a “huge loss and step backward.”
“There is research that shows higher participation in the arts leads to better outcomes overall. It is clear that more than halving Spanish instruction will slow language acquisition. And most, if not all, of our students love school more when there is a diversity of offerings, thus increasing their engagement across the Board,” the PTO wrote.
Skills for life
At a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, parent after parent spoke in opposition to the proposed schedule changes, saying that arts, theatre, music and languages provided important life-skills, and were necessary for a high-quality education.
Aviva Luria, the vice president of the music boosters organization at Daniel Hand High School, said she was concerned that reducing music instruction at the younger grades would “decimate” the marching band, which was already half the size it had been before Covid.
“ We just are very concerned that students aren’t going to get the instruction that they need and have support that they need for learning how to play instruments,” said Luria.
Paul Cislo, a father of two fourth-grade boys, said he felt the parents hadn’t gotten a clear explanation for the reason behind the reductions. He also said that theatre in particular offered tools that could be useful for students in other areas of life.
“ The skills they learn in that theater class really help them in life — getting over their fear of presentations and being able to be persuasive in their discussions,” he said.
Parent John Huffman, who said he’d moved to Madison because of their school system, and particularly their “whole child” approach to education, said his daughter, who struggles with shyness, had flourished in the theatre program.
“ I think it is incredibly important that they’re happening at this point in her life when she can still build that sense of confidence,” he said.
Cooke told CT Examiner that the district had been able to offer a position to the current theater instructor at Brown. He said that as of now, there was one teacher to whom they could not offer a position for next year, but said he hoped that would change.
AJ Miller, an engineer and father of three, said that he felt the skills students learned in the arts – and particularly the theatre program – were more important for someone’s career than “having the highest test score.” Public speaking in particular, he said, was a critical skill. With academic subjects, he said, students would have plenty of opportunities to further their learning in higher education.
“ Once you’ve made up your mind that you’re not good at public speaking, or you’re not the type of person who stands up in front of crowds, or you don’t have the second language skills built into you at an early age, that stuff doesn’t come back at 18, 19, 20 years old, or 40 years old,” said Miller. “That stuff needs to happen when the kids are really young, and it’s really important.”
Cooke said that while the changes were not based on test scores, the district’s current scores did reveal that they needed to increase their instructional time in science.
Parent Erica McMillan emphasized the need to engage children with the arts at a young age, before they became too self-conscious to try things like theatre. And Jenny Ney, who has a child in first grade, also emphasized the importance of learning music early in life.
“ You’re probably all aware of the numerous studies showing how music education is incredible for the growing brain, especially at those younger ages. It synthesizes motor, cognitive, and sensory systems in a way that builds neural pathways that other disciplines just can’t create. It builds pattern recognition for language development and teaches kids grit, resilience, and persistence,” she said.
And Jose Aviles-Ortiz, a bilingual English and Spanish speaker, emphasized the need to teach a second language early on in a child’s life.
“ I grew up speaking English and Spanish, and I’ve seen people trying to learn later in life, another language and how frustrating that could be,” said Aviles. “For me, it’s a tremendous skill to give our kids and a tremendous signal that … we are including more diversity into our community that sometimes doesn’t seem to have [it].”
“Jumping of the gun”
Multiple parents criticized the board and the district for what they saw as a lack of communication, and expressed anger that they hadn’t gotten to voice their opinions before a decision was made. Cooke said the district had not been able to share the information with the parents until November because of negotiations around teacher contracts.
Cooke told CT Examiner that Madison values the arts and sees them as important, but he also discouraged parents from comparing their programs with other districts, saying that it was important to look at the program offerings as a whole.
The Board of Education did not discuss the potential schedule change during their meeting. But Board Chair Seth Klaskin said during a meeting of the curriculum committee earlier that night that the board considered scheduling decisions to fall under the purview of the district administration.
“I understand there’s a whole bunch of concern right now. I would be concerned if my child was that age … It’s understandable.” said Klaskin. “We do have confidence that the decision making that goes on is highly sensitive to the needs of the students, highly sensitive to the full context of what they need.”
Klaskin also said there was some “jumping of the gun” among community members, since the district had not yet finalized the schedule for next year.
Superintendent Craig Cooke echoed Klaskin in an email to CT Examiner, saying that they had not yet finalized the schedule changes.
While Klaskin did say that the schedule changes were not budget driven, the superintendent’s proposed budget for 2025-26 includes a reduction in staffing hours for Physical Education, music, art and world language.
Cooke said that there were staff reductions due to the scheduling change, but that there were also additions being made in the budget because of the change.
He also said the district would in the Spring work on making outside clubs available in the arts for students.
“We often have a pretty robust offering, but in these areas there may be a renewed interest,” said Cooke.
The district will hold an informational meeting on January 23 at 6 p.m. in the Polson Intermediate School Auditorium for fourth grade parents to further discuss the proposed changes.