On May 6th, some students from Steller’s Band and Orchestra classes and parents of our music students, along with Harlod and Dale, met with ASD Music Department Supervisor, Frank Hauser to discuss ASD’s decision to eliminate Band and Orchestra from our school. Mr. Hauser proposes that Steller students utilize Band or Orchestra classes at Romig or West instead.
Parents and students present at the meeting shared concerns with this plan: the walk to these schools is unwieldy, unsafe and impossible during bad weather; Steller’s class schedule does not mesh with the schedules of either school; and many students prefer to pursue their musical interests with peers at Steller, rather than at another school’s program.
While Dale, Harlod and Mr. Hauser are exploring avenues to provide music for Steller students in the coming school year (such as use of a retired or off-duty Highly Gifted Music Instructor to provide a zero hour or 7th period class using Steller addendum monies, provision of a peer taught orchestra class, or developing a Community Schools music class), members of the Steller Parent Group are voicing deep concern about the decision to completely eliminate music from Steller as the mechanism to achieve a district-wide cut in the ASD Music Department. Cutting the budget in this way impacts only Steller students out of all the middle and high school music students in the district and is inequitable.
Steller has a strong music tradition. Our graduates include individuals who went on to pursue advanced degrees in music (like Julian Brelsford), students who play in top notch Anchorage bands (like Evergreen and The Minute Hand), and even the internationally known star, Jewel. We owe it to today’s Steller students to give them the same opportunities to study music that their predecessors have had.
So what do we do? Let the community know about this concern and/or contact people involved in the decision: Frank Hauser (hauser_frank@asdk12.org) and Carol Comeau (comeau_carol@asdk12.org).
Superintendent Comeau responded to the 5/6 meeting notes as follows:
To All Who Attended the Parent Meeting;
Thank you for copying me on this information. If the Governor signs the legislation increasing education funding, we will revisit this program cut for next year. We may not know until June or later, depending on what he does.
I can assure you that we will keep this in mind.
Carol Comeau