Musicians play outside school board meeting in hopes of saving art and music in Junior Highs

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-Musicians and artists rallied outside the Santa Barbara Unified School Board meeting on Tuesday.

They are concerned music and art classes in junior highs in the Santa Barbara Unified School District will be cut or reduced due to budget cuts.

Eric Heidner, who leads bands at Santa Barbara City College, said children learning music in elementary school need to continue their music education in Junior High.

He said that feeds into the high school and college programs that can lead to scholarships and careers.

He said it was not an issue when the junior highs had a 7 period day, but that period was not restored, despite promises, during prior budget cuts.

The district issued the following statement regarding the issue: Arts, music, theater, and other creative electives are essential to the education of students at Santa Barbara Unified. The District supports creating a 7-period day schedule  However, this is not something that can unilaterally be implemented. This change would need to be negotiated between SB Unified and the Santa Barbara Teacher’s Association. In the last few weeks, teachers at Santa Barbara Junior High held a vote to waive contract language to allow a 7-period day in the 24-25 school year. That vote failed. Had that effort been successful, the District would have supported the implementation of a 7-period day at Santa Barbara Junior High.