Leila Rezania

Music teacher Bridget Andes puts an instrument into a locker. Music faculty have been coping with an influx of new work after the removal of an important support role due to budget cuts.

Music department faculty members have been coping with an influx of new work following the removal of an important support role due to schoolwide budget cuts announced last spring. 

The extraordinary nature of the work necessary to keep the music department running has made the absence of a project assistant a pressing issue, according to music department chair Ryan Hudec.

As a result, Principal Martin Woods has been working with the University of Chicago to attain a work study student for the department. This student would work 20 hours a week solely for the music department, compared to the 40 hours a week the department’s former project assistant, Kimberly Banister, spent serving the music, fine arts and world language departments. 

Mr. Hudec believes Ms. Banister’s absence has had larger consequences for music because of the personalized instruction necessary to accommodate each new class of students. The former project assistant used to order music, organize performances and facilitate communication among all 17 music teachers, from early childhood to high school. 

“This person was kind of the lynchpin that kept us all going,” Mr. Hudec said.

The administration made the decision to dissolve this position because of discrepancies in the use of administrative support across departments, according to Mr. Woods, with some departments not using their resources at all.

“What that signals to the administration is that there are opportunities for faculty members to take on some of those tasks,” Mr. Woods said.

However, the “one-size fits all” nature of these solutions has made adjustments, like the hiring of a work study student, necessary for the music department.

“One-size-fits-all solutions might look good on paper,” Mr. Hudec said, “but they impact people differently.” 

It is unclear as of yet whether a work study student will be able to perform the necessary tasks to the same degree as the project assistant. This includes supervising the practice rooms on which many middle and high school students depend.

Mr. Hudec said, “You are comparing someone who is doing a full-time job as an adult to a part-time job for a college student, whose priority, as it should be, is their education.”

Last week, in a meeting with Mr. Hudec, Mr. Woods and Carla Ellis, associate director of schools, offered possible solutions, which included shifting some of the responsibilities of a project assistant, like greeting guest artists, onto support staff in the high school office.

Mr. Hudec’s main concern had been letting those tasks fall to the teachers, and while he’s unsure how everything will play out when demands increase throughout the year, he remains dedicated to maintaining a “narrative” for the department that is student-focused.

Mr. Hudec said, “This decision to dissolve the administrative support has just thrown all of my efforts into the classroom more.”