‘Dance has saved us.’ Wake high school students fight to save dance program from cuts.
A budget fight at one of Wake County’s top high schools is testing how much school leaders are willing to do to protect arts programs.
Students at Green Hope High School in Cary were told Friday that dance classes will be eliminated after the end of this school year because of budget cuts caused by the school having fewer students. The dance students are fighting to save the program, taking their case directly to the Wake County school board this week.
“With the abolishment of this flourishing program, all would be lost and each and every dancer would drastically grieve,” Nick Kleoudis, a Green Hope dance student, said at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “Dance at Green Hope High School is not a department, not a program, not a class. It is a family, and family is worth fighting for.”
Wake school leaders are offering some hope, saying they’ll take a look at the issue.
The proposed dance cuts highlight how schools are funded in North Carolina.
Schools receive teaching positions using a state formula based on how many students they have. School districts can provide schools with additional teachers using local funds.
Green Hope High cutting teachers
Camille Hedrick, the principal of Green Hope, says enrollment projections for this fall have the school with 200 fewer students. She said the loss of these students means she’ll have fewer teachers, about one less for each department.
The teachers whose positions are eliminated would be transferred to other Wake schools.
In Green Hope’s fine arts department, Hedrick said dance is being cut because it has fewer students than band, chorus, theater, visual arts or orchestra. With the dance teacher’s position being eliminated, she said none of the other fine arts teachers are certified to teach the classes.
“We are not going to have a dance class,” Hedrick said in an interview Tuesday. “We have a big pot, and out of that pot we have so many classes that we can set up.
“We have to set up the classes first that help our students graduate, and what’s left is the ones that have the most demand.”
Hedrick broke the news Friday to the dance students. They and their parents immediately began to lobby to keep the program. An online petition created by Green Hope junior Ashley Habig had gotten more than 2,900 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.
Eleven parents and students spoke at Tuesday’s school board meeting asking district leaders for help.
“The fine arts is something that should never be cut from schools, only improved upon,” Habig said at the board meeting. “For example, Fuquay-Varina High School just this year added a dance program. So why are we taking a step back and eliminating ours?”
Therapeutic benefits of dance
The students shared how much dance means to them and how dance teacher Nikki Wadia has made it an inclusive space.
Kleoudis said that the dance program has provided a safe space for LBGTQ+ students like himself.
“To eradicate the dance program at Green Hope would intensify the agony we endure,” Kleoudis said. “The removal of this program would show the absence of support the WCPSS puts forth to the LGBTQ+ community.”
Claire Sciandra said dance has helped her and other students deal with issues such as anxiety and depression.
“Dance is healing, therapeutic and an incredible way to deal with adversities,” Sciandra said. “Dance class at Green Hope provides a safe way for students to release their stress and worries about struggles taking place in all areas of life.
“It is the most judgment-free zone I have experienced in my high school career.”
Alaina Isaak told school leaders how the dance program has helped her deal with her clinically diagnosed depression.
“Dance has saved us,” Isaak said. “It has saved me. It is more than just a class, it’s a family. It’s not just dance, it’s passion. It is heart, it is soul, it is love. All we’re asking for is reconsideration to terminate a class who has healed so many.”
After hearing so many heartfelt stories, school board chairman Keith Sutton thanked the students for their courage. He told them that school leaders had heard their concerns. But he’s stopping short of guaranteeing the program will be saved.
“We will be working with Superintendent (Cathy) Moore, Mr. (Bill) Fletcher, who is your board representative for Green Hope, and the administration to address the issue as we get more information and hopefully work towards coming up with a mutually agreeable solution,” Sutton said to applause from the audience.
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 2:58 PM.
