Teachers, parents and other community members made last-minute pleas to the Santa Fe Board of Education on Tuesday night, urging members to reconsider merging small schools and slashing arts and music funding — actions that have been identified as ways to cut nearly $7 million in costs next school year.

A capacity crowd filled the meeting room at the school district's Education Services Center at 610 Alta Vista St., where the board is scheduled to decide Thursday where the budget ax will fall for the 2010-2011 school year.

Many arts and music teachers voiced opposition to one proposal that would alternate music and art programs on a yearly or semester basis and eliminate a coordinator position — a total savings of $1 million. Supporters stressed the positive effects of arts education on students' overall achievement and participation in school.

"The arts are not a frill — they are essential to every child's education," said Karen Conley, who identified herself as a music teacher in the district.

A band director for Sweeney and Chávez elementary schools likened the budget situation to trimming a "big pot full of flowers."

"They look all right now. They're starting to bloom," he said. "But what are they gonna look like in a few weeks?"

Another issue raised during the public forum was the idea of consolidating small schools. An advisory committee formed by Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez proposed turning Alvord, Larragoite and Kaune elementary schools into a K-8. They also proposed consolidating Acequia Madre with Atalaya into a K-8 after the next bond cycle. At a previous meeting Board Vice President Mary Ellen Gonzales suggested closing Acequia Madre at the end of this school year.

Fred Nathan, executive director of Think New Mexico, offered yet another wild card to that debate. His suggestion: Instead of eliminating small schools, transfer some students from larger schools to some of the smaller schools to level the playing field.

"Sometimes a crisis presents an opportunity," he said. "This crisis presents an opportunity to rethink the way we educate our children."

His plan calls for shrinking the population of the district's largest elementary schools — like Piñon, Sweeney and César Chávez — which average an enrollment of between 600-750 students each, by moving students into small schools like Acequia Madre, Alvord and Kaune, keeping enrollment to about 400.

"Every child in this school district could attend a small school," he said.

Nathan also proposed eliminating "double dippers" in the school district who collect both a salary and a pension. He said his research found there are 65 such employees in the district, and getting rid of half of those positions and replacing them with new employees at lower salaries could save $750,000.

Board member Angélica Ruiz had said earlier this week that she expected board members on Tuesday to make a more definitive commitments to their individual choices for cuts — which are represented by red (no), yellow (maybe), and green (yes) dots placed on a series of sheets in the board room. However, the board did not follow through on this action as of deadline Tuesday night.

And though the agenda indicated the board would present its annual evaluation of Superintendent Bobbie J. Gutierrez Tuesday night, the board postponed this action to a later date.

The board is expected to make final budget decisions at a 5 p.m. meeting Thursday.

Contact Veronica Cruz at 986-3042 or vcruz@sfnewmexican.com.


Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated a previous stance by the Superintendent's Budget Advisory Committee. A correction was published at 12 p.m. April 21.