Beginning with the 2010-11 school year, the Olentangy Local School District will adjust the way it provides elementary strings instruction. The adjustments will increase the overall music instruction at the elementary level and will save the district $842,689 in salary and benefit costs over the next four years of the five-year financial forecast.
“This new strings program is a great example of how our administrative team is working with staff members to find creative solutions to our revenue loss situation without jeopardizing student instruction,” said Olentangy Superintendent Wade Lucas, Ed.D. “Executive Director of Elementary Learning Jeff Brown has done a great job of leading this difficult process and I applaud the work of all those involved in finding a more fiscally responsible and sustainable solution for this important curriculum program.”
Currently, all fourth and fifth grade students have the opportunity to choose strings instruction two times each week instead of their general music class. These students lose 70 minutes of general music instruction time each week. Next school year, students who are interested in strings will receive 60 minutes of instruction after school every week. These same students will also receive the full general music curriculum during the normal school day. In addition, by moving the strings program to after school hours, this provides greater flexibility in the elementary master schedule allowing for more consistent and larger blocks of time for core instructional areas.
Brown outlined the changes to the program for the Board of Education during their regular meeting on November 10. Community members may view the presentation online via the district’s Web site at www.olentangy.k12.oh.us/district/learning/index.html