Art, music, PE money allocated





Elementary schools in the Las Virgenes Unified School District will reap the benefit of an ongoing stream of state money earmarked for art, music and physical education.

Two state funding sources have provided more than $1 million to the district, but only $184,000 will be provided in ongoing funds.

After a study session with teachers, administrators, parent-faculty leaders and other stakeholders, district officials landed on a plan they hope will make the most of the state money. Rather than just divvy the money up among all the schools based on their number of students, board members wanted a systematic, collaborative approach to the creation of new programs and supplementation of existing programs, board President Terilyn Finders said.

“When a lot of money comes in quickly, it can be spent unwisely,” Superintendent Donald Zimring said.

During the study session, it was decided that ongoing funds, which for Las Virgenes total $184,000, will be used to develop an integrated art and music program for students in kindergarten through fifth grade at all eight district elementary schools.

Board member Cindy Iser suggested contacting experts at the Arts Commissions and New West Symphony, or other groups to develop art and music curriculums.

As for one-time state monies, physical education will get a big boost in funding, Zimring said. Forty-five percent of this budget- $423,000- will go toward an integrated P.E. program. The money will be dispersed over three years.

To bolster standardbased programs in the three target areas, principals have been encouraged to tap into another portion of the funding pie- $272,000- by submitting specific grant requests to the district.

The remaining $227,000 has been distributed to middle and high schools. The sum equals about $31 per student, according to Zimring. District officials anticipate that schools will use the funds to replace antiquated musical instruments, make repairs or purchase art materials. But the money cannot pay teacher salaries, Zimring warned.

Agoura High School’s allocation totaled $70,147, while Calabasas High School received $62,683. Indian Hills High School received a onetime grant of $4,000.

Lindero Canyon Middle School was allocated $34,000, Alice C. Stelle Middle School got $30,400, and A.E. Wright Middle School has about $27,400 to use for art, music or P.E.

“It’s a wonderful chunk of money, but not nearly enough to do half of what we want to do,” said board member Pat Schulz.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *