Anchorage School District's plan to cut the number of dedicated elementary school art classes and health instructors is raising concerns.

The Anchorage School District is proposing major changes to the way arts and health are taught in elementary schools next year. The plan, which would require dozens of teachers to reapply for jobs and replace a popular program for gifted students, has sparked a backlash from parents and guardians. educator.

The proposed changes, presented last week as part of next school year's school district budget, include cuts to dedicated art classes for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

These lessons will be replaced with weekly hybrid classes for all students that integrate five subjects in one hour: science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, or STEAM. Additionally, STEAM classes will replace her IGNITE program for gifted students.

The district is also proposing eliminating 20 full-time elementary school health instructors and having the subject taught by classroom instructors instead.

The school board is scheduled to vote on the plan as part of the overall budget at its Tuesday, Feb. 27, meeting. The school board was originally scheduled to vote Feb. 20, but school officials announced Friday that the vote had been postponed to allow time. For public comment.

The proposed elementary education restructuring is one of many cuts and reductions included in next year's school district budget to make up for the nearly $100 million deficit faced as public education funding remains flat at the state level. It is an object.

The changes to elementary education are expected to save the district approximately $2.2 million. But it has drawn criticism from educators who have expressed skepticism about whether arts and health can be meaningfully integrated into more general classes.

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“My heart breaks for my students. It's been a very emotional week,” said Chelsea Ambrose, who teaches art at Kincaid and Gladys Wood elementary schools.

Under the STEAM program, science and math will continue to be taught by classroom teachers, but the new classes will supplement their lessons with hands-on learning and project-based assignments, said Eric Viste, the district's senior director of elementary education. he said.

In an interview, Mr. Biste said that students “will be using science, design theory, scientific theories from the fields of engineering and science to tackle real-world problems,” solving practical, real-world problems. He said he would do so. He said a curriculum for the new program has not yet been developed.

“It doesn't necessarily mean the arts will go away because it includes the arts,” said Biste, who first presented the plan at last week's Anchorage Board of Education meeting. He said the plan will help all elementary school students, but ultimately puts a burden on school districts. few.

“STEAM can really expand our artistic element,” Viste says. “This will be consistent with our local economy. If you look at our industry, a lot of it is science-based,” he said.

As a result of this change, approximately 50 of the district's elementary art and health teachers and 18 of the 20 IGNITE teachers will lose their current positions at the end of the school year, and will be replaced by newly created STEAM instructor positions or other vacant positions. This means that you will need to reapply to a certain faculty position. Job – If you want to continue teaching in your school district.

“What we're trying to do is recruit for these (STEAM) positions. They will be full-time positions and we encourage anyone to apply, including art teachers,” Biste said.

Viste said the goal is to save costs while preserving some of the creative learning opportunities that IGNITE provides to students. IGNITE — “Incorporating gifted needs into today’s education” — is loved A program for high-achieving elementary school students. The district has proposed budget cuts in past years to save money, each time drawing hours of public testimony in support of the program.

All students participate in STEAM, although IGNITE only targeted top-achieving students who took the test in the program. In a previous presentation, Viste noted the disparity in student access to IGNITE and said some of the proposed solutions aim to close that gap.

In interviews, some teachers mentioned the value of teaching art and health as their own subjects.

“Art is important,” said Nerissa Thorson, who recently transitioned to teaching art after a 17-year career as a classroom teacher. Because she believes in the value the arts bring to students. She said, “Art is really important for a child's development, for them to be creative.”

“This is really unfair and unfair to the subject and the professionals who teach it,” said Jenelle Hartman, who teaches health at several schools in the district.

She said she doesn't think classroom teachers have time to teach health. In addition to busy schedules, health is an important subject, and includes a wide range of important topics, from hygiene, first aid, menstruation, and sexual assault to mental and physical health.

“For students, I think they have a lot to lose without their health,” Hartman said. “Everything we teach them is literally how to take care of their bodies,” she said.

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Ambrose was similarly skeptical that important elements of art education would be lost.

“I'm really worried that we'll end up studying salmon, doing science with salmon, and then sketching the anatomy of salmon as an element of art. That's not art.” she said. “Can you be pretty? Yeah. Does it require fine motor skills too? Absolutely. But is it really art? Is it an activity that uses your creativity and artistic courage?”

“Because we don't have the funds.”

In an interview, School Board Commissioner Andy Hallman said he wants the public to understand that the current proposal is the result of a lack of adequate state education funding, and that school districts are in dire straits. said.

The state's per-student funding formula, known as “Base Student Allocation,” hasn't increased significantly since 2017, largely outpacing the effects of inflation.

The Legislature returned to session last month with education funding as its initial focus, but was unable to override the governor's veto of $87 million in one-time education funding.

Alaska House Republicans then pushed a controversial education package that included $77 million in permanent increases in education funding, but not the $350 million annual increase sought by education advocates. It wasn't even close. The plan also includes provisions aimed at providing funding for home-schooled children and increasing the number of charter schools in Alaska, but has stalled without support from a majority of lawmakers. ing.

Congress began negotiations on a fraught education package last week.

“We are cutting (ignition) Because we don't have the funding,'' Holleman said of the proposed changes to elementary education, adding that he has received hundreds of emails from families concerned about the loss of gifted programs, many of which he agrees with.

He said he anticipates that if the current proposal is approved, some art and health teachers will leave the district and be able to fully teach their subjects elsewhere.

Teachers who came across this article said they felt the proposal was launched hastily by school administrators, negatively impacted students and families, and was presented without much time for public input.

For Hartman, the health teacher, the loss of dedicated health instruction means fewer opportunities for the vulnerable and important conversations that can occur in health classes taught by instructors with hours of specialized training. .

“Alaska has the highest rate of sexual assault. And I think about that all the time when I'm teaching kids,” Hartman said.

She teaches students about bodily autonomy and sexual assault awareness as required by the Alaska Safe Children Act.

“Every year, I've gotten reports from kids after lessons. And every year, I've had to call (Child Services),” she said.

Some art teachers said they were skeptical about plans to incorporate art into classes that include many other subjects and were unsure whether they would apply for STEAM positions next year.

“I think (the administration) is missing the point of art,” Ambrose said. “I think it's about them seeing the magic that happens every day from a place that's obviously not an art classroom.”

Thorson, who teaches art at Girtwood Elementary School, Inlet View Elementary School and Trailside Elementary School, said her classes give students the opportunity to be creative and imaginative. She teaches everything from ceramics to printmaking to learning about shapes and shading to trying oil pastels for the first time.

As a former classroom teacher, “I watched my students slowly lose time just creating and being kids. There was so much pressure on reading and math that it was no longer what I wanted to do as a teacher. “I didn't feel like doing it. It felt like the fun was kind of sucked out of me,” she said.

She said the arts also often offer something especially meaningful to students for whom English is a second language, those with special needs, or those who struggle in other areas. .

“I truly feel that the art room is the only place in the school right now where everything means everything. All students have access to the projects we do, and all students, regardless of their academic status, It’s a place where you can feel successful,” she said.

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