Stan Adelstein donated $165,000 to pay for program, but cuts next year still possible.

By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff Wednesday, September 10, 2008

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Twelve-year-old Zachary Kirschenmann is old enough to understand budget problems.

Holding a trumpet in his hands, the seventh-grader knows just how lucky he is to be at band class at South Middle School.

Other students and teachers also said they were excited to be returning this year, especially since just four months ago the district’s elementary school band and orchestra program showed up on a multimillion-dollar list of possible cuts to aid a faltering Rapid City School District budget.

In a heated auditorium, and an even hotter debate about possible cuts last year, community member Stan Adelstein stepped to the microphone and promised to donate the $165,000 it would take to save the program for another year, which includes paying staff salaries and benefits. It had nothing, he said, to do with his running for the state Legislature.

The district accepted the offer, and the money will be moved Oct. 15 into the Rapid City Foundation account for the district’s access, Adelstein said this week.

The district’s administration warned that unless something changes, the schools will face cuts again this year. Music advocates are worried about where the money’s going to come from next year.

Zachary plans to play the trumpet until he’s “at least 40.” He started playing in third grade at a private school, and he’s worried about elementary school students not having the same opportunities he had to start playing that early. It’s one of the reasons he is hooked on music now and worries that even more of the district’s music program could make the list someday.

“We don’t want to get cut,” he said, glancing toward the sound of his classmates doing a morning warm-up exercise. “We could become real good at this and then get cut.”

Chan Foresman teaches band to more than 200 students at Corral Drive and Meadowbrook elementary schools, and Southwest Middle School. Students in the district can start orchestra training in fourth grade. Band starts in fifth grade.

“We’re excited about getting started this year; the students are excited, too,” he said.

Foresman said he never stops worrying about cuts.

“We’re always concerned; it’s something that looms in the back of all of our minds,” he said. “But we’re confident that the arts in Rapid City are strong and that it’s something the people of this town, this community want. We’re confident one way or another we’ll find funding for it.”

Dan Haggerty of Haggerty’s Music Works in Rapid City said the district could lose more money than it might save by cutting band if students leave to attend private school where they can play instruments.

The state education aid formula pays the district about $4,500 per student.

The financial impact of a potential mass transfer is not known. It’s early in the school year, and not all programs are fully operating; the district does not yet have a count on the number of students involved in the elementary and middle school instrumental classes, assistant superintendent Katie Bray said Friday.

Music advocates and some parents have argued that cutting elementary instrumental classes would devastate middle and high school class numbers and Foresman agrees.

“That’s always a big fear of ours,” he said. “Fourth and fifth grade is the perfect time to pique their interest. Their bodies are big enough to be playing, and once we get them going, they’re hooked.”

If you don’t get them involved early, they commit to other activities.

“They only have so much time and can only do so much,” he said.

South Middle School band teacher Brooks Bowman has the same concerns about the cuts.

He had only been on the job for nine months when the budget crisis was announced.

“It came as a surprise,” he said. “It was my first year here, and I had never been through budget cuts.”

He’s taking the same approach this year as he did when he first heard that the elementary music program was on the line.

“There’s nothing to do but sit back and wait,” he said. “I’ve got a fresh group of kids excited about playing their instruments and that’s all I care about. I love teaching these kids and sharing my passion.”

He will do his job and the people that deal with the budget will do theirs, he said.

“There’s always rumors,” he said. “Why should I sit and worry about what might happen?”

Part of his job is making the program the best it can be while it is still here. The students are worried about the here and now, he said.

“They’re worried about what they can get out of the program this year,” he said. “They’re kids; I want to help them do that.”

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it