Some Lakewood Public Schools parents, staff, alumni and others are concerned after the district has moved to change its schedule of special classes for its elementary schools, which will mean fewer music classes.
The changes will also mean fewer physical education classes but a new class each week to teach students about the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and a new class period in the schools’ libraries to provide computer skills and encourage students to read.
Joshua Mika, a recent Lakewood graduate who’s now in his first year of college, told the Lakewood Board of Education during a meeting in late March that the music education he got in the schools cemented a lifelong passion for music.
“Whether it’s playing gigs or playing in the band at Cleveland State, I can really attribute this all the way back to just going to Hayes Elementary,” he said.
Marjorie Hildebrant, a longtime Lakewood Public Schools music teacher now retired, said she was “disappointed” in the board of education.
“Music classes (provide) many things that help learning: listening, following directions, history, reading fluency, matching pitch, playing the instruments, and on and on,” she said.
Multiple speakers during the public comment section of the meeting noted Lakewood schools were seen as a destination for parents because of its robust music offerings. Gray Cooper, a Lakewood schools teacher, coach and parent, said he was one of those parents. He said he was concerned with the attempt to model the new schedule based on what other districts are doing.
"I'm not really sure why we would want to make changes to our music curriculum to do what other districts are doing, because I think our current music offerings are pretty unique and significantly different from other districts," Cooper said.
The new elementary school class schedule makes the following changes:
- Students currently receive general music instruction “every other day,” according to district documents (meaning Monday-Wednesday-Friday typically). That will change next school year to only be once per week.
- Physical education is currently given to students every other day (opposite of music instruction) each week for three out of four grading periods. That will change next school year to only be once each week, a net loss of time.
- Arts instruction is currently every other day for one grading period; next year it will receive an overall increase by being taught once a week for the whole school year.
- Next school year, the district will add a STEM lesson once per week and time spent at the school library once a week, where students will learn technology skills and internet safety while increasing their “information literacy” according to a release from the district.
The district adopted the changes earlier this year upon the recommendation from a committee chaired by a teacher and administrator, who noted in a presentation in February that the district’s schedule of “special” classes – i.e. arts, music and physical education – hadn’t been changed in almost 20 years.
Steven Ast, director of teaching and learning at Lakewood and committee co-facilitator, said the changes came out of teachers requesting to have more time for instruction, with STEM lessons that are currently twice a month, regular library visits and even D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) programming taking away from typical class time, among other demands on teachers’ time.
Jessie Holland, a Lakewood teacher and committee co-facilitator, said students are increasingly going to need new tools to deal with the modern world.
“We looked at the idea that there hasn’t been a routine or regular delivery of digital citizenship lessons and information literacy,” she said, noting the district has a limited number of media specialists who can teach those lessons.
Christine Gordillo, a spokesperson for the district, said the district will be hiring additional staff for that programming, in addition to the STEM and art special classes, and will not be firing any staff as a result of the changes.
Superintendent Maggie Niedzwiecki said in a statement that the school district’s extensive music offerings will remain the same for high school and middle schools, with band, orchestra and choir taught every day at those schools
“We believe the new schedule will better serve all our elementary students by providing them with a more balanced specials experience and the skills to better succeed in the competitive, complex world they will someday join as young adults,” she said.
