Due to the bad economy, the Averill Park Central School District has proposed to cut back many classes and extracurricular activities. There are a number of ways that students and teachers will be affected. Cuts could be made to sports programs, music, art, language, and other activities. They could also cut after school programs such as SLA@MS, and Walk the Talk. It’s bad to cut these because kids enjoy these activities and we don’t want to take that away from them.



Not only are they proposing to cut after school programs, they are also proposing to cut certain classes too. The district has proposed to cut certain classes such as Band, Orchestra, and Chorus. Some people might think that playing an instrument or singing is not an important subject to learn in school. However, there are a number of studies that show that kids who play a musical instrument, get better grades. For example, on www.ehow.com it says “According to the American Music Conference, music may also play a significant role in the performance and academic achievement of children and teenagers.”(April 14th, 2010) In addition, the budget proposal would cut after school programs and sports. People may argue that after school programs are not necessary. However, there are “over 600 students who participate in at least one sport.” (Budget FAQ, Averill Park Central School District website) After school programs also help enrich students’ lives.



A major program that the budget proposal is planning to cut is the after care program at the elementary schools. Although it may not affect families with older kids, many parents rely on this program for their elementary school age kids. There is no alternative for after school babysitting. This would be a hardship because many families would have to find someone to watch their kids. This cut doesn’t make any sense because funding for the program all comes from the parents paying for the service.



Due to the bad economy, the Averill Park Central School District has proposed to cut back many classes and extracurricular activities. We should not cut back the arts because it helps enrich students’ lives. Many people might not think that the arts are important, but studies proved that they are. We should consider not cutting the arts. Instead, we should turn lights off to save energy, or cut back paper, and have more fundraisers.