"It feels like my whole life that I've had to justify why the arts are as important as every other subject in school," said
Santa Barbara High School senior Margo Carmean,
Carmean was one of 11 theatre students who silently protested potential budget cuts to school art programs at this week’s school board meeting.
"It was definitely very nerve-wracking. I didn’t know if they were going to cut the music off," Carmean explained.
For nearly four minutes, the high schoolers stood shoulder to shoulder in silence as music from their upcoming show played in the background.
"I just kind of came up with the idea because I wanted to show them what would happen if there wasn't any arts funding, They wouldn't have any of these performances… Just remembering the reason we were there was to show them that they couldn’t just take the arts away," Carmean said.
Carmean’s theatre teacher, Gioia Marchese, says she is the high school's only theatre teacher and that she recently received a reduction in force notice from the district.
"And if she's not employed by the district, we can't do any of the productions we do," Carmean explained.
A statement from Superintendent Maldonado states Santa Barbara Unified needs to reduce this year’s budget by $9.65 million, with an additional $4 million expected next year.
A district spokesperson would not comment when asked how many cuts to teacher positions are expected.
"The arts should be accessible for everyone, and the way that they can be accessible is through public spaces like public education because if they're not funded publicly for everyone to use, there's going to be a very small percentage of people who get access to them and that's not okay," Carmean said.
In the coming weeks, school and district leaders will be assessing enrollment, course offerings and staffing for next year. The budget process will continue through May 15 when final staffing adjustments are made.
