The Fulton Schools 2023-34 Budget Has Passed, But An Important Staffing Issue Remains

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May 17, 2023

To the Editor:

The Fulton schools 2023-34 budget has passed, but an important staffing issue remains.

In 2020, the district eliminated a high school choral position. As a result, our 5-12^th grade band program took a loss of .4 elementary band position (across Volney, Fairgrieve & Lanigan), and .2 Band position at G. Ray Bodley High School.

I discovered a day before the 2023-24 budget vote that there will be a position based at the Jr. High added that is ostensibly for strings and other duties but described by the administration as “not specific to orchestra” in a letter of response I received. The need for support is for band instruction, which has received no restoration to, nor additional support for the students enrolled in the 5-12^th grade bands, which have had continued growing student enrollment.  

While we have a marvelous music program and it is great to see additional support in the budget, this is clearly a misallocation of resources.  The need for an additional position is for band.

Further fallout from the 2020 cut led to G. Ray Bodley student lessons being relegated to larger groups, and lesson times shortened from 40 to 30 minutes. First-year band students are put into large lesson groups with students performing at varied levels of experience.

It’s just plain unfair for band students to receive less attention, time and support than they did before the 2020 cut. In addition, students are pulled more frequently from classroom subjects because of the limited lesson schedule.

It’s also obvious that if the reduced number of music faculty continues to be set upon with an increasing load, we will lose them to other districts.  I’ve followed the budget process for the past 26 years—both communicating it to the public through my business, and as a person present at most of the public hearings.

I know and understand that the management of limited, available resources has to be strategic to do the most good. That’s why it is crystal clear that the one position being added to the music department in 2023-24 will best serve our program if it goes to the swelling ranks of band students.

With our population and investment in Fulton set to grow as a result of the Micron development, it only makes sense to make further investment in our music program and uphold the high standards this program strives for. The City of Fulton will be making an all-out effort to showcase our community for its many great offerings as a place to live, work, and enjoy the arts—and that includes a robust and vibrant music program.

I urge the Fulton schools administration and the board to reallocate the budgeted position to support the growing needs of band students in 2023-24.

Sincerely,

Stephen Chirello, President

Fulton Music Association

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