Parents To School Committee: Restore Elementary Art And Technology Teachers To Full Time

Restoring art and technology “specials” teachers to full time was a top priority for parents who  commented at an elementary school budget forum on December 9. 

Last March, Superintendent Michael Morris proposed cutting art and technology teachers at all three elementary schools from five to four days per week to save the district $75,000. Despite push back from parents and staff, the School Committee approved the cut. 

Now, one semester into the academic year, the art teacher at Wildwood, Ceara Yahn, has submitted her resignation. Yahn was hired in 2018 after long-time Wildwood art teacher Julie Rivera retired. Public comments submitted in advance to the committee lamented the loss of Yahn. 

Reached by email for comment on her reasons for leaving the district, Yahn wrote, “there are several factors involved in our decision, but the lack of support and job security for specialist teachers that I increasingly perceive in this school district was a significant factor.” Yahn shared that, as a result of the budget cut, she now teaches twenty art classes in four days with a significantly decreased amount of prep time, and is unable to offer the arts integration classes for 5th and 6th graders — one of the reasons she says she was compelled to join Amhert as a teacher. These schedule changes coincided with the loss of her teaching space due to COVID-related changes at the school, meaning she had to overhaul her curriculum to teach “art on a cart.” 

In a short budget presentation, chairperson Allison McDonald said that teacher salaries account for more than 50% of the $24 million elementary school budget. McDonald offered prompts to solicit public input on budget priorities: 

• What do you value?
• What should the District be focused on?
• What do you think the District needs?

For parent and School Committee member-elect, Jennifer Shiao Page, the specials teachers offer consistency to students since, unlike classroom teachers, they have the opportunity to develop long-lasting relationships with students over many years. “That can’t happen if there is high turnover due to positions being part-time, or if teachers from other schools are covering a class or two,” Shiao Page said, referring to the plan that art and technology teachers from Wildwood and Fort River would each teach one day per week at Crocker Farm.

Fort River parent, Annaliese Kittrell agreed with Shiao Page about the importance of consistency in having the specials teachers at the school every day. “It’s more than just the curriculum,” Kittrell said. “It’s also about the connection and continuity for the children. When [the specials teachers] are split across two schools, it disrupts the connection they make with that one student who really needs it.”

Fort River art teacher Nicole Singer said that she had compiled a list “of all the things that have been a real struggle or sometimes lost completely as a result of the art cuts.” (The Indy reached out to Singer for a copy of the list but hadn’t heard back by press time.)

Ayumi Parsons, also a Fort River parent, said the specials subjects are one of the reasons her children love going to school. “Any cut would really hurt them,” Parsons said. In addition, Parsons said it is likely a loss to other school staff to not have the technology teacher, who provides tech support in the school, onsite every day. 

Written comments submitted to the committee by three Wildwood parents echoed the live comments favoring restoration of  full-time art and technology teachers. Amher Cano-Martin wrote, “we cannot afford to lose more fabulous teachers like Ms. Ceara – and our children are missing out on arts-integration projects and a dedicated block of time to the arts. Bring back full-time specials positions across the entire district. Please, make this a priority!” Similarly, Laura Hunter wrote, “I’m very upset about the budget cuts that resulted in art teachers at Wildwood to be cut to “.8” time and have to fill in at Crocker farm. Arts are incredibly important to our children’s education and that should be reflected in the school budget.”

The forum marked the beginning of the budget process for the 2022-2023 school year. McDonald invited the public to submit comments by email to schoolcommittee@arps.org or via an online form that she said is being developed. The proposed fiscal year 2023 budget is expected to be presented and voted on sometime in March.