At the beginning of the summer, the district sent out a letter to parents explaining that there were no music educators in place to run the school day programs at Crystal River Elementary School, Carbondale Middle School, and Roaring Fork High School. Superintendent Dr. Anna Cole says the district is committed to providing exploratory opportunities, but they are unable to offer the same programming as larger schools.
“At Crystal River Elementary School, we currently have a vacant Music teacher position, and so the position is posted and we have yet to find a candidate for that position. Carbondale Middle School and Roaring Fork High School previously shared a position for a music and band teacher that was split between the 2 schools based on student interest on programming. That position was not continued in 24-25. We make a lot of decisions around electives based on student numbers in terms of interest, simply because with our very small schools, if we have electives that have eight, 12, 15 kids in them, it means that someone else has 40 kids in a classroom. And so, that position has not been continued.”
Dr. Cole says the district is working on solutions to the lack of school day programming through local partnerships.
"What'll happen, it's limited, it's not ideal, but Roaring Fork High School will be offering a modern band class at the high school in partnership with Jazz Aspen Snowmass, and 8th grade musicians from Carbondale Middle School will be invited to come up to the high school to participate in that class.
We recognize that a vacant position at C. R. E. S. and 1 class at Roaring Fork High School does not constitute a robust music program. And so all of our leaders are currently meeting with community partners, exploring different opportunities and creative partnerships to make sure that our students still have access to music education programming. And so, for example, Crystal River Elementary School is connected with Carbondale Arts and is looking to see if Carbondale Arts can facilitate like a music educator in residence kind of a program. And I know that similar conversations are happening with partners at CMS and Roaring Fork High School.”
Shanti Gruber is a music educator in the Roaring Fork Valley and has been teaching for 16 years at multiple schools. She is currently the choir, guitar, and musical director at Glenwood Springs High School. She acknowledges the efforts of the district to provide opportunities outside of regular programming, but she says there are a few issues.
“The people who are from Jazz Aspen aren't certified music educators, right? They are just professional musicians who have a lot of experience that can bring and offer programming to students. They do have lots of experience teaching kids, but not as professional educators who have teaching licenses.
They do bring a lot to our students, but it is not the quality music education that a professional music educator can bring in. Thank you. Music in the schools brings opportunity for students to experience music for free. A lot of the after school programming costs money. Parents and students have a hard time with accessing after school programs due to multiple reasons; and music is a core value for all of our students to be able to access during the school day.”
It isn't just the students who may be negatively affected by a lack of regular music programming. Gruber expressed that she and her fellow music educators struggle to stay on their career paths.
“Music is just as important as STEM and tech, art and PE, none of those classes seem to get cut. It feels that music is always on the chopping block. So I feel I have, in my 16 years, been fighting for my job, always, every year, never knowing what's going to happen. I've experienced losing my position as well. I was the choir director and drama director at Glenwood Springs Middle School for nine years. And my position was cut due to funding, is what the answer was; so our band director had to absorb my position."
Gruber is now as close to full time as she can be at Glenwood Springs High School. She grew up in the Valley and says that her ties have allowed her to remain in Roaring Fork schools. But the housing search for new teachers is often difficult.
Dr. Cole said the Meadowood Housing Project, a 50 unit development for Roaring Fork educators, received almost twice as many applications as available units.
“The cost of rentals, the cost of home ownership, the cost of just about everything in the valley makes it really hard for teachers to either come and stay here and envision a life here on a teacher's salary and afford a life here on a teacher's salary.
And it's definitely hard to recruit folks to come from elsewhere, especially in areas that are more affordable. We just completed the lottery for a brand new teacher housing unit that a lot of Carbondale folks are familiar with the Meadow Wood Project, which is near Roaring Fork High School, and it's 50 units of everything from studios to three bedrooms.
And we got almost two times as many applicants for each unit as is available. And so, you know, what we're looking at right now is somewhere between 30 to 60 teachers who were hoping for staff housing and aren't going to get it. So we know that even though we've made significant investments as a community, as a district in teacher housing, it's still not enough.”
While the district continues to explore supplementary options, Gruber emphasizes that music is an essential part of a well rounded education.
“There's always a way to make it happen. I think it's really imperative that everyone in our district share the understanding that music is essential and that we must treat it as such.”
Music from this feature is an excerpt from a performance by The Constellations of Jazz Aspen Snowmass. This is an evolving story, more information will be available as the story
progresses.
