Damonte Ranch has a department called the Performing Arts Center (PAC), which serves as a hub for the arts and the major attractor of transfer students from other high schools in the area.
PAC, and the arts in general, all receive their funding from the state of Nevada. Money is allocated to the school district based on population and current graduation/GPA rates. The school district then divides it up by the area that it will be funding.
Amy Barthel, the visual and performing arts coordinator for WCSD, is responsible for dividing up the money by school and art type.
“The school district often faces budget deficits and they have to make really tough decisions, and what I have noticed in my time with the school district is that they make cuts across all areas,” Barthel said.
These cuts directly impact students in all the arts. If the little money that is already destined for music gets lessened, then split into thirds for choir, band, and orchestra, it doesn’t leave much for the students.
“Most of the funding that the music program gets tends to go towards the band because the band is expensive. They have their instruments, and they have all their fancy competitions like marching band, and a lot of travel stuff. And choir, we don't do as much of that,” said Ellie Challacomb, a choir student at Damonte Ranch.
Challacomb’s opinion is widely shared. Many agree that choirs inherently get and need less funding than the other branches of music. Damonte Ranch choir teacher Jennifer Tibben is pushing for there to be room in the budget for more opportunities for her students.
Tibben described travel as one of the most useful experiences a choir can have.
“When choirs travel, the connection between those people is strengthened. And the stronger those connections are between singers, the better they sing together. [...] The budget money that I get from the district is not enough to buy music for one concert, let alone four concerts in a school year. [...] The funding struggle that I have the most is supporting kids that want to go beyond and want to do extra, like paying for buses to go to festivals. There's no budget money for that. It has to come out of fundraising,” she said.
To try to resolve this issue, choral programs start internally. They reuse sheet music instead of spending the money needed to buy more. They fundraise during concerts and accept donations throughout the year. They host bake sales, raffles, and craft fairs in an attempt to raise funds.
Some years are more successful than others. The only way to have a good steady stream of income for these programs is to not rely on fundraising. While Tibben suggested local businesses should get involved and help out, Barthel focused on voting locally for candidates who share the same views on funding education.
Addison Gwin is a senior at Damonte Ranch High School and a participant in KUNR’s Youth Media program, a special partnership with the Washoe County School District to train the next generation of journalists.