Enormous Negative Impact on MERSD Music Dept. if Override Fails

To the Editor,

We understand if the currently proposed MERSD budget for next year fails to be adopted that the result would be the loss of 22+ positions, most of which are teaching positions. This will have enormous negative consequences on many aspects of our already small school district. We are writing today to draw attention to the specific impact a failed override will have on our already undersized music department.
Student music participation at Manchester Essex Regional High School is lower than all schools that we are compared with by the state’s department of education, often with percentages of student participation at half the levels of those at other schools. This is due to several factors, among which include the lack of a graduation requirement in arts at MERHS, even though it is recommended by the state; the lack of an Arts Director to coordinate all programs; the small size of our district’s music faculty. MERSD currently has a music teacher to student ratio of 1:322, as compared to other nearby districts like Ipswich and Rockport which boast ratios of 1:195 and 1:158, respectively.
Our district is often highly ranked based on many measures and considered “high performing” due to data like teacher: student ratio, AP participation, attendance, and graduation rates. If we were ranked based on the size of the music department, their offerings, and high school music participation, we certainly would not be ‘high performing’. Please be aware that this is all true before cutting a music teacher, which will happen should the previously mentioned override not pass. Our music teachers are knowledgeable, hardworking, connect well with students, and offer courses that are interesting and innovative. They deserve to be part of a robust music department and be supported by the district with an appropriate budget. They face an uphill battle with such a small department, small budget, and lack of a department leader. Cutting a teacher would be devastating and would bring the music teacher to student ratio to around 1:400.
Growing excellent high school music programs is dependent on students having a strong music background in elementary school. Fiona Dooley is the current Manchester Memorial Elementary School music teacher teaching General Music to all students PreK - 5th Grade. She also leads Chorus for Grades 3 through 5 at both MMES and Essex Elementary School. When Ms. Dooley joined the MMES staff, she saw a need for engaging students in music, helping them connect and love music and performance in a way they hadn’t before. Students who didn’t see themselves in a traditional concert band or who didn’t connect to the music traditionally used in General Music or learned differently were on her mind, so she created a morning offering called Rock Band. Participating students find their way to a piano, a bass guitar, electric guitar, or vocals and the students and Ms. Dooley choose songs together to learn and perform. When Ms. Dooley saw an inequity between the schools when MMES offered Rock Band and EES did not, she worked hard to right that wrong and began Rock Band at EES. If you haven’t experienced Rock Band at the elementary school concerts, it is worth seeking out. It is a lively and engaging experience while students learn music and performance skills.
While most schools saw a drop off in participation in music offerings from before COVID to after COVID, Ms. Dooley’s offerings have experienced the opposite. With Ms. Dooley leading Chorus and Rock Band at the elementary schools, the number of students who choose to come before school for music has doubled at both MMES and EES. With her guidance and her teaching, we are seeing students who might not have seen Band as an option for either middle school or high school choosing to join the band with their guitar, keyboard, or xylophone and continue to choose a path in music.
A failed override would mean losing Ms. Dooley and altering the music program and offerings at the elementary level, which would subsequently have a negative impact on participation at the middle and secondary levels. Our students deserve better.
Please vote YES for the budget at the town meetings and YES for the override in Essex. We can’t afford to lose a music teacher.

Friends of Manchester Essex Performing Arts