Art funding in Belmont-Redwood Shores adds teachers, but also concern

Proposition 28 was passed by voters in 2022, requiring an annual source of funding for K-12 public schools for arts and music education beginning in 2023-24. The amount of funding available each fiscal year will be 1% of the K-12 portion of the Proposition 98 funding guarantee provided in the prior fiscal year. That is estimated to be around $1 billion per year. Each school’s allocation is based on its share of statewide total enrollment and the share of enrollment of economically disadvantaged pupils.

After going through different options for allocation that were guided by the committee, Hu said district administrators decided to focus on enhancing the programs available primarily at the elementary schools to create a foundation for students to become interested in music. 

“We made the analysis that if we put all of our dollars in the early years, we can build interest, skill continuum, that when students leave elementary to middle they can continue on,” Hu said. 

A concern raised by multiple parents and community members who were on the steering committee was the discrepancy in services and extracurriculars offered among the district’s three middle schools — Ralston Middle, which is the largest of the three, and Sandpiper and Nesbit, both K-8 schools. 

Besides a stipulation saying 80% of funds must go toward employing certified employees to provide quality art instruction, the district has jurisdiction over exactly where that money goes. 

Jordan Webster, the music director at Carlmont High School, which BRSSD feeds into, said she wished the district would place subject matter experts at the center of decisions regarding funding allocations. 

“Historically, and unfortunately, administrators at BRSSD often overlook the invaluable insights and expertise of our music teachers,” Webster said. “It is disheartening to know that these teachers have been left out of discussions that directly impact the quality of our music education.”

Webster said she believes more instruction is needed specifically at Nesbit and Sandpiper. 

The current plan is to increase the elementary schools’ current once-a-week 30-minute music session to twice a week 45-minute sessions. Additionally, interested Sandpiper and Nesbit sixth through eighth grade students who opt in for music instruction will be offered two weekly sessions rather than just one. 

With a coined phrase “we can do anything, but we can’t do everything,” Hu shared with the board that she tried to consider what was best for the entire district after hearing from various community members about where they think the money should be invested. 

“We have to prioritize, we have to stay in budget,” Hu said. “We have to make sure that we are expanding the programs that families are asking for.”

Patricia Braunstein, whose daughter goes to Nesbit and was on the steering committee, said that the smaller middle schools, particularly Nesbit, do not have equitable access to an expansive music education. She also noted that Nesbit is the only Title 1 school in the district, serving lower socioeconomic families with over 70% students from underrepresented groups. She added she raised this concern at the steering committee meetings on various occasions. 

Hu told the steering committee there is not a noticeable discrepancy between the ethnic makeup of middle school music participants and the overall student body. Demographic comparison data charts were shown to the committee to corroborate this, but did not include Hispanic/Latino as a subgroup. 

Hispanic/Latino students make up the largest ethnic group in the district as well as at Nesbit. Braunstein said she believes that these students were included under the white subgroup and ultimately “obscured any evidence of ethnic disparity.” 

Angel Camacho has had children go through the school district and ultimately decided for them to attend Ralston over Sandpiper because of its music program offerings, even though the latter was within walking distance. However, he said this shouldn’t have to be a necessary decision. 

Camacho said there’s a large population of Latino and immigrant students at the two smaller middle schools that are ultimately being underserved. As the president of the English Learners Advisory Committee at Carlmont High School, he said he has heard there’s simply a lack of interest in music among certain populations within the district. However, he believes that’s “misguided and a self-fulfilling prophecy.” 

“As an immigrant, I never thought that I would be advocating for more music but now I can see the transformational power,” Camacho said. 

Braunstein’s daughter, Yakira Braunstein, said at the school board meeting she thinks the discrepancy is unfair to those who might choose to attend the smaller schools because they are closer to their place of residence.

“Saying that to get better instruction, you must leave your neighborhood school to commute miles across town, sounds like history lessons that have taught us that this isn’t right,” Yakira Braunstein said. 

Alan Sarver, director of the Celebrate the Music Program in Belmont, of “Music Mentors” and a former member of the Sequoia High School District Board of Trustees, wrote to the school board advocating for more extensive middle school music education. He said he has noticed the two smaller middle schools, due to economies of scale, do not offer the same extensive elective choices and believes this should be addressed as a priority. 

“Particularly in the Nesbit community, this created an environment where if you chose the small local school, then music education is something you are to be giving up,” Sarver said. 

Since the district does not have home school assignments, families of students in fifth grade are able to select which middle school they want their child to attend. Superintendent Dan Deguara said if students are interested in music, then Ralston is where they will find a comprehensive music program. 

“We don’t want to limit our students by any sense,” Deguara said. “I think that certainly each middle school offers something a little bit different and we have a track record of working with families to help them find the environment that is best for their kids.”

Camacho said that ultimately, the importance of Prop 28 is to allow any and all students to have the opportunity to find a passion for music. 

“These opportunities and access to music, is not only for pleasure, not just making art to make art, it’s a possible career path,” Camacho said. “Kids deserve the opportunity to play and find themselves.”

ana@smdailyjournal.com

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