On Thursday, March 2nd, the Bishop Unified School District Board of Trustees met to discuss Choir being cut from the Fine Arts section.  The meeting started off with parents and students who were for Choir and wanted to keep the program.  Parent Joe Griego shared his opinion on the decision first, and he states, “Diana Lanane takes music seriously. The choir program is important for many reasons. Also, we don’t have that level of resource and we should be aware of resources we have.”

Chloe Almeida who is a junior at BUHS started Choir this year also spoke out at the meeting and she said, “This offers great education and expands other segments such as math and we learn and enforce life skills as well, and I’ll just say to please continue the choir program.”

Jordan Kost who is also a junior at BUHS, and has been doing Choir since he was a freshman also spoke out and said, “When you’re cutting the Choir program, that means you’re cutting the music department in half.”

Angela Greer also stated her opinion and related this situation to if Agriculture was cut from the school and how upset she would be, she said that, “I believe that people who’re public speaking today have built that confidence through choir. I urge you to keep choir.”

Finally, Mrs. Lanane told her opinion and the importance of keeping choir at BUHS, she said, “I really hope you keep this class, because it’s a huge benefit for these students and it benefits these kids in so many ways. I try to teach them to be encouraging to each other and not nasty to each other. These student astound me and we try to teach them music skills, because music is a lifelong hobby.

On the opposite side, the superintendent, Barry Simpson said, “The board will be taking action on this decision. We’ve had discussions about budget cuts in last meetings. Things can change between now and the end of the school year. We are cutting a position in English and the amount of enrollment in choir and the decrease in the enrollment at BUHS caused these cuts.”

More members of the board backed this opinion, and one of the board members, Kathy Zack said, “California is poorly funded compared to the other states. This program is really important for those kids, but I have to serve my own conscience and I have to be physically responsible. I’m choosing to protect the financial stability of the school.”

Finally the president of the board, Taylor Ludwick said, “Mrs. Lanane’s an amazing person and it’s a great program, but there are some considerations we have to take.” The meeting ended with the ruling to favor in the board, and the decision was made to cut Choir from the school.

What do you guys think about this decision? Leave your comments below.