Schools

Parents Call Out Chancellor Over Reduced Arts Funding

Email letter asks parents to invite Chancellor Kaya Henderson to the Fillmore Arts Center spring art show

Parents continue to pressure D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson to reverse cuts proposed in her FY 2014 budget that will leave the Fillmore Arts Center, 1819 35th St. NW, with as many students as the 2011-2012 year, but with $300,000 less in funding for staffing and supplies.

Fillmore provides art and music education to children at eight DC public schools.

As Patch previously reported, Principal Katherine Latterner created a new budget for the school that would require her to replace four full-time teaching positions with part-time hourly positions. Since the cuts were first announced, more than 1,000 people have signed a petition that urges Henderson to restore Fillmore Funding.

Find out what's happening in Georgetownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Read: Fillmore Arts Center Faces Funding Cuts

In an email sent to parents at Hyde-Addison Elementary in Georgetown, Friends of Fillmore representative pushed parents to take action to get the chancellor's attention.

Find out what's happening in Georgetownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The Friends of Fillmore is asking families and concerned community members to send the Chancellor emails with a subject line that says, "Please come to the Fillmore art show this Friday!" It also would be good if parents flooded her with notes about why they like Fillmore and why it shouldn't be cut to pay for the foreign language requirement."

According to the note, Henderson was formally invited to visit the center during the spring art show, which is Friday from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

"We’re hoping she’ll come visit and reverse the cuts to our constituent schools’ art/music budgets," Peter Eisler, the treasurer of Friends of Fillmore, told Patch in an email Thursday.

Though DCPS maintains that the cuts were put in effect because several schools opted not to be part of the Fillmore program next school year, funding data from the Friends of Fillmore shows that between fiscal year (FY) 2011 and FY 2014, per pupil funding decreased by 40 percent, a change that is independent of number of schools involved in the program.

Patch asked Eisler if the chancellor does not come around, whether the friends group would focus its efforts on the District Council.

"If she doesn’t do it, yes, we hope the Council will compel her to take action," wrote Eisler.

The note sent to Hyde parents also said if the chancellor stick with her plan cut funding to Fillmore, the feeder schools need to know the chancellor's "intentions for arts education going forward so that the Fillmore feeder schools may plan accordingly."

For the quickest updates on Georgetown news, Follow @GeorgetownPatch on Twitter and "Like" Georgetown Patch on Facebook.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here