Schools: Music vs. phy ed

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

June 6, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

What began as a mundane Bemidji School Board budget workshop Thursday night, finished in a battle of ideologies.

The board met to discuss the district's 1996-97 budget a final time before voting on it later this month, but board member Neil Skogerboe warned he would object to cutting a full-time high school music position at the June 16 meeting.

The position was recommended to be cut by High School Principal Ev Arnold and Superintendent Rollie Morud agreed at a prior budget workshop in April.

Citing the increase in students involved in the music program and the stationary number of teachers in the department, Skogerboe said he could not condone a cut that was so deep to a program of such excellence.

"The numbers in the Music Department justify that position in music," said board member Mary Auger, in agreement with Skogerboe. "Our music classes are running 80 to 100 kids or more. We have no other program in the school that has 100 kids in it."

Auger said if the position were cut, the Music Department would have the same number of faculty now with three times the number of students the music program had 10 or 15 years ago -- a ratio she said is too high.

Skogerboe suggested not to hire a replacement for long-time physical education teacher Myrna Freborg, who has retired, and use the money to fund the music position -- an idea favorable to a few other board members.

But Assistant Superintendent Jerry Abbott and board Chairman Jim Smalley disagreed, saying not hiring a replacement for Freborg would mean the High School physical education staff would consist of all men -- resulting in a situation with which they would not be comfortable.

Because the cut was recommended by the High School principal, Smalley said the board should accept the decision made by the person operating the school.

The music position cut was worth more than $50,000 and probably was the most feasible cut to reach the level the High School was asked to cut, he suggested.

"We gave a directive to the principals to make cuts, and some of them were more difficult than others," he said. "(Arnold) may make some decisions Neil doesn't like or I don't like, but it's not our responsibility to make the cuts.

Skogerboe disagreed, saying it was Arnold's responsibility to make recommendations to the board, but it was ultimately the School Board's responsibility to make the cuts.

"It is the responsibility of the board to make the cuts, and I think the cut of the music position is an inappropriate cut. They phy ed position is one way not to lose the cut money," he said. "I know (the High School administration) is not going to like it, but when I make a mistake as a physician I like to correct the mistake before the person dies."

No action was taken by the board Thursday, and Morud said he would contact Arnold and ask him if there is an alternative to cutting the music position before the regular June 16 meeting.

"I will make the motion not to cut the music position and bring it back full-time," Skogerboe said. "In all things that we have to cut, that is a mistake. We've got too many kids in the program. ... It's too good of a program to decrease the quality of it by decreasing professional staff."