East Anchorage choir teacher retiring, leaving future of program uncertain amid budget deficit
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A choir teacher at Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School is retiring at the end of this school year, leaving the future of the choir program at East uncertain due to the Anchorage School District’s massive budget deficit that has forced the displacement of hundreds of teachers and staff.
Melissa Fischer has taught choir at East for 14 years, growing the music department to where it is today. She says her full-time position in the school will not be filled next year, leaving the future of choir classes at East uncertain.
Her decision to retire was made at the beginning of the school year, but she didn’t foresee the budget cuts occurring — budget cuts that were triggered by a deepening budget deficit that district officials have said reach over $100 million.
Fischer and her students remain hopeful choir will continue in some form at East, but it will not be the same.
“We cannot do without choir at East,” Fischer said. “It brings kids to school. It’s what makes them want to achieve in order to come together and be that team that we call choir.
“A club before or after school does not constitute a choir. These kids need to have the opportunity to study it, to be a part of that team because many of them have the talent to do postsecondary studies in vocal music and I don’t want to see that taken away from them because they need this preparatory spot here at East to ready themselves for college and beyond.”
The current choir students also want lawmakers to know that the decisions they make impact the experiences of future students and their careers.
“I have a younger brother and I have younger friends and peers, and I really want them to be able to have all the same experiences that I’ve had in choir and in other fine arts programs,” East senior Zoe Hartlieb said. “I’ve always been somebody who really values creativity and music in all different forms, and the arts. So choir to me is a new way for me to express my emotions and learn skills that I can use after high school. I can continue to sing and make connections with other people.”
East junior Gwyneth Eggleston said she believes valuable education in Anchorage schools means more than just the core STEM subjects, or science, technology, engineering, and math.
“It’s not just the curriculum that they put through that’s important. We have to fund our schools, and we have to have teachers for different things because if we expect people to know what they want to do when they’re 18 out of high school, then we have to give them every opportunity to know who they are and what they want to do,” Eggleston said.
The Anchorage School District asked Alaska’s News Source not to interview Fischer or the choir students on campus for this story. A reporter met with them off campus.
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