Thursday vote could kill Fulton grade school bands, orchestras

By Gracie Bonds Staples

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fewer Fulton County school psychologists and social workers will have to be cut to close the district's $120 million deficit next year thanks to new budget figures from the governor’s office.

The school district was notified late last week that it would receive $6 million more than originally projected.

The boon was not enough, however, to save the district’s elementary school band and orchestra programs from the chopping block.

But parents and students say they intend to turn out at Thursday night’s board meeting at Dunwoody Springs Elementary School to ask the board to spare the popular programs.

More than 5,000 parents have signed an online petition urging the board to reconsider cutting 59 positions in the band and orchestra programs. Fulton Superintendent Cindy Loe has recommended they be converted into a fee-based after-school program for fourth- and fifth-graders.

Maria Restivo of Alpharetta said she has seen the positive impact arts programs have on students. One of her sons graduated from the Chattahoochee High School marching band program and a second is now a member.

“It’s wonderful and the kids just seem to blossom more,” she said.

School districts across metro Atlanta have been grappling with budget deficits for weeks now, looking at cutting staff and even closing schools to make ends meet.

Loe asked the school board last week to approve cutting 1,000 positions, including nearly 500 teachers, to offset the district's deficit.

The system is proposing a 2011 budget that is about $137 million less than the 2010 budget -- from $857 million to $720 million.

Before the latest word from the state, parents and employees had been bracing for an additional $28.9 million in cuts on top of the $35 million approved Feb. 18, when the board voted to increase class size to the state maximum across all grades, eliminate the pre-kindergarten general fund and summer CRCT retake program, and reduce the school calendar from 180 to 177 days.

The board is expected to vote Thursday on the more recent recommendations, which include cutting the number of social workers, psychologists and instructional support teachers. Instead of reducing their numbers by 50 percent, the superintendent is now recommending a 25 percent cut and keeping school resource officers at their current staffing levels.

In addition to those changes, Loe plans to recommend adding a flexible support position at each regular middle and high school. Principals can use the position to offset one of the cut positions, such as a counselor, media specialist or teacher.

Employees who lose their jobs will be notified no later than April and will remain on the school system payroll through June 30.

Restivo said schools are the last places that should be undergoing budget cuts, especially ones that impact class size and the district’s popular arts programs.

“I can see the dropout rates rising because classes will be too big to get kids motivated,” said the 47-year-old mother of four. “Making the classes larger will really damage the kids.”