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According to students at Lakewood High School, the petition spread like wildfire there, as more and more of the population realized that the Lakewood Board of Education was announcing changes that would take away the elementary specials schedule that led to so much success and satisfaction at the high school level. “Lakewood is famous for the quality of its music program,” said a senior who has been in choral music for all 4 years at LHS, “like with the Lakewood Project, how good our musicals always are, our marching band, the prizes we always win at state in choral and instrumental music— it’s like they’re trying to take away the building blocks from our little brothers and sisters that made it all happen for us.”
An anonymous letter has been circulating through the city that articulates the situation from a parent’s point of view:
“This change was, in large part, predicated on a survey that was vague and misleading (at best if I’m being generous). Asking families if they support a ‘review of schedules’ and then reporting that 88% of families strongly support THIS change is irresponsible.”
The letter concludes: “I am disappointed in how our administration chose to enact this change. Lakewood has a long tradition of collaborative, transparent discussion and this was… not that.”
The Lakewood Board of Education announced the change at their February 21 meeting, stating that the new specials schedule which cuts music by 60% and physical education by 50% in favor of adding a free standing STEM class and a digital literacy class, will “even the field for students to explore their interests.”
Critics of the plan, including many Lakewood educators, point out that the District is ignoring research showing that introducing children to music at an early age creates and stimulates new brain pathways, which enhances their development in all subjects, and that its effect on young brains is not “even” with the other subject offerings, but vitally important for growth at this age.
To see the petition go to: https://chng.it/TcN6pGv2
Betsy Voinovich