Ledger-Dispatch

By Raheem Hosseini (editor@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

Dozens of high school band students and = parents=20 showed up with signs Wednesday night to ask the Amador County = Unified=20 School District not to make severe cuts to the music = program.

Photo by: Raheem=20 Hosseini
For one week at least, the kids = saved the=20 music.

Lining up against the back wall of an overflowing meeting = hall, a=20 boisterous crowd of sign-waving band students, parents and teachers = urged the=20 Amador County Unified School District Board of Trustees Wednesday night = to delay=20 gutting the program by 60 percent, saying the cuts would effectively = kill the=20 music.

The school board put off making any recommendations until = next=20 week's meeting, saying they needed more time to tinker with a list of = cuts that=20 somehow needs to add up to more than $2 million, nearly 10 percent of = the school=20 district's budget.

The process has been a painful one, = necessitated by=20 the state's $16 billion fiscal crisis and the governor's mandate to = slash=20 spending across the board by 10 percent. Since mid-January, a budget = advisory=20 committee has been meeting to figure out what services have to remain = and what=20 can go to make the impossible numbers work. It's a list that has changed = seven=20 or eight times, said Superintendent Mike Carey, and one that is likely = to change=20 at least once more.

"This has been an arduous process," Carey = said. "Over=20 the years, the district has cut so much to the bone that there's not = much meat=20 out there, not much to cut."

But this year is unprecedented, = school=20 officials say. Under the governor's proposed budget, both the school = district=20 and office of education, which oversees services for special education, = would=20 lose $130,000 in the current fiscal year and $485,000 next year due to = the=20 suspension of Proposition 98. Effectively, that's $800 less per student = in a=20 state that ranks near the bottom in per-pupil spending, averaging $1,900 = less=20 per student than the rest of the country.

The story doesn't get = any=20 better across the state, either. Carey said more than 60 percent of = California=20 school districts are heading toward negative or conditional = declarations,=20 meaning they're waving the white flag and saying they will be unable to = meet=20 some basic services.

While in Sacramento last week, district = officials=20 listened to representatives of the Legislative Analyst's Office, members = of the=20 Education Coalition and county office officials from across the state. = The=20 constant theme, said Assistant Superintendent Barbara Murray, was that = "our=20 students will suffer."

Earlier in the meeting, the school board = approved=20 a resolution pleading with the governor to look elsewhere to make his = fiscal=20 culling, including new revenue sources. But the governor and Republican=20 legislators have taken tax increases off the table and other revenue = sources=20 haven't been identified. School districts across the state are sending = the same=20 resolution, Murray explained. She also said county residents should = lobby their=20 elected representatives through letters, e-mails and phone calls. "The=20 reductions that will be made are the most significant budget reductions = we have=20 made in years," she said. "This is a very sad situation and students, = staff and=20 the community will be affected by the decisions that will be = made."

The=20 most recent list of "viable" options proposes sizable cuts to nearly = three dozen=20 areas, including getting rid of freshman sports, elementary school music = and=20 laying off staff.

The district is also toying with the idea of = reducing=20 nursing services from 13 days a month to 11 days. Gretchen Carlson, a = school=20 nurse for 23 years, said that would give the district a nurse-to-student = ratio=20 of one to 2,420. The standard is one nurse per every 750 students. The = district=20 currently employs a one to 2,020 ratio. "It's already impossible to do = all we=20 know we should be doing," Carlson said.

Most of the attendees = were there=20 to talk music, however, and an instructor that was on the bubble of the = proposed=20 cuts.

"I've dedicated my life to music and, at school, I've = realized that=20 dream," said band student John Johnson. It's a dream he said his = teacher, Chris=20 Tootle, had realized as well. "Not only (are the cuts) eliminating our = dreams,=20 but it's eliminating his." Johnson's comments, like many people's, led = to loud,=20 extended applause.

Elida Malick characterized reductions to the = music=20 program as "a false economy" because of the money it generates. Music = boosters=20 have raised roughly $65,000 over the past few years for equipment and = trips,=20 according to Johnson.

Altogether, 12 students and parents spoke=20 passionately about a program that had come to mean so much to them and = had both=20 cathartic and enriching value. Maja Johnson, John's mother and Booster=20 president, called music "an absolute life path for some of these=20 kids."

When it came time for their beloved instructor to approach = the=20 podium, he was brief. "Tonight is not about me. It's about them," he = said. "I=20 just wave a stick."

It became evident early during deliberation = that the=20 school board would not make any decisions that night. Another budget = advisory=20 committee is scheduled for Tuesday at the district office and it is = probably the=20 last opportunity stakeholders will have to tweak the list. But the = situation=20 remains a desperate one.

"We're willing to listen to anyone and = their=20 ideas, and they're going to have to be outside the box," Carey said. = "The=20 challenge has never been greater."

Raheem = Hosseini