Music Program Advocacy Update - May 1, 2020
A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the music students, parents, alumni, friends and community for the huge outpouring of love and support for our extraordinary music teachers and the phenomenal MBUSD music program in response to recent cuts to the district music program. There were around 300 letters and submissions to the school board received by the end of the school board meeting on April 15th. The virtual meeting was attended by over 350 family and community members. You can view video of the full board meeting here.
Click the links below to read the letters that were submitted to the school board. Most of the letters that are related to the music program are under agenda item "F1" (pages 61 to 154 in Part 1; pages 23 to 47 in Part 2), and others under "D2" and other headings:
The school board has approved the creation of a board subcommittee examining the K-12 Music Program in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District, with the following charges:
Examine and discuss the Status Report prepared by John Benham and Associates for the Manhattan Beach Music Boosters. Click here to read a summary of Dr. Benham's report, or to view the full report..
Examine patterns in music enrollment and how to best utilize our excellent music program
Review the structure and pathways of the music program, research best practices in other California districts with successful music programs
Recommend ways to maintain a strong K-12 VAPA program within the confines of our budget constraints
Submit recommendations to the Board of Trustees as soon as reasonable, but no later than December 1, 2020.
More information will follow in the days to come regarding the progress of the subcommittee, its research and findings, and what you can do to help. To sign up for regular music program newsletters, communications, and updates, please go to:
www.manhattanbeachmusic.org/about-us-2#b0ceaf14-2a9f-4b6e-ae98-20972b0e6918%E2%80%9D
Let's continue this journey together to save and grow the MBUSD music program!
For more information, please go to:
https://manhattanbeachmusic.org/
Click here to view flier PDF with functional links.
