Parents, students plead with Carmel board to spare music and performing-arts programs amid budget shortfall

Dozens of students and parents addressed the Carmel Central School District Board of Education on March 26, urging trustees not to cut music, theater and arts extracurriculars as administrators work to close a budget gap.

Student speakers highlighted recent honors and college opportunities tied to the district's arts programs. "Music and the performing arts is 1 of if not the most successful department at Carmel," said Sam Corey, a high school performer and student leader, citing scholarship offers and regional recognitions. Other students described daily rehearsal schedules, leadership roles, and the role of boosters and advisers in sustaining productions.

Parents and community members warned trustees that proposed reductions ' including a suggested elimination of an option that lets middle-schoolers double up in band/chorus ' would weaken the feeder pipeline and could reduce later enrollment in high-school ensembles. William Yellett and others asked for explicit detail on how many full-time-equivalent positions would be cut and what program changes families should expect.

Multiple speakers asked the board to prioritize alternatives to cutting classroom-facing programs, including examining administrative budgets, consultant fees, capital expenditures and the process for committee scheduling and transparency. "We need the details in order to know what is at stake when they go to the polls to vote for this budget," a parent told the board.

Trustees acknowledged the public pleas and told speakers they would supply additional budget scenarios to show the effects of a zero-levy (contingent) budget, a version without program cuts, and other trade-offs at a March 28 budget work session. The board tabled the full budget discussion to that work session to allow more time for review and public input.

What's next: trustees asked administration to prepare and publish alternative budget scenarios (including a 0% levy contingency projection and a version that keeps arts programs) before the March 28 budget work session so the board and public can see concrete trade-offs and personnel impacts.