Due to a decrease in school enrollment, the school was forced to lay off one teacher for the coming spring semester. Since music teacher Wes Hambright was hired most recently, the school is unable to keep him.

Beginning next semester, music classes will not be offered. Principal Deb Smith is hoping to bring Hambright and music classes back next August. There is a direct correlation between funding and school enrollment.

In order to fix this, the school enrollment must increase and funds should be redistributed among school expenses.

Since music classes are a popular elective, it is unclear where these students will go. There aren’t many electives offered each period so this might pose a problem for scheduling.

Some electives require students to take a prerequisite course, meaning another class must be completed prior to enrolling into this elective. This might cause some students to need their academic courses rearranged.

Next semester, Hambright will be working on completing his teaching credential so he can come back, since he currently doesn’t have it.

Since the school’s namesake Daniel Pearl had a deep  passion for music, it feels like a piece  of  the    school is being  taken  away with the elimination of these classes.

Hopefully, by the next school year, music classes will stay in the schedule for good. Music gives students an outlet for self-expression that cannot be shown through required core academic classes.