Chula Vista schools cut arts, music education while sitting on millions in funding

Annie Good, a sixth grader at Liberty Elementary in southern San Diego County, said making art at school provided her with a safe space — an escape from rigorous academics and an outlet for creativity. 

“You can just take a little break,” she said. “When you feel like you need to chill, you can just do art.” 

But that class is no longer an option. Liberty’s art program was cut this year — and some parents are wondering whether it didn’t have to be. 

For nearly three years, the Chula Vista Elementary School District has collected close to $10 million meant for arts and music funding and left most of it unused, cutting programs across campuses and even eliminating a small number of teacher positions along the way. Several board members — those responsible for approving and overseeing the district’s budget every year — said they were unaware. 

“That I think causes more anxiety and frustration that the money’s sitting there (and) we’re not doing anything,” board member Delia Dominguez Cervantes said at a meeting earlier this month. 

In 2022, California voters approved Proposition 28, an annual investment of roughly $1 billion meant to supplement art and music programs across the state’s K-12 schools. Chula Vista Elementary, with more than 22,000 students, has since received about $3 million every year. 

All of it sat unallocated until this year, even as board members voted to cut over a hundred positions — including teacher roles for visual and performing arts programs, or VAPA. Others, including a music teacher position, were also let go this year. 

The district offers instruction in dance, music, visual arts, theatre and media arts to each student at least every other week. To do this, VAPA teachers are split among multiple campuses, according to the district. Programming is based on community input and the number of classrooms per grade level, with each site having the ability to hire full-time VAPA teachers using their own funding. 

Cara Good, Annie’s mother, said her family moved to the area from Monterey and was attracted to Liberty’s art program helped make east Chula Vista’s high property taxes worthwhile, she said.

School officials told her Liberty cut its art teacher role because the campus is serving fewer students, Good said.  

Like many others in San Diego County, Chula Vista Elementary is facing financial challenges amid declining enrollment. Over the last decade, enrollment at the district has decreased by 6% — or about 1,500 students. Liberty has seen a steeper decline, going from about 740 to 530 students, state data shows. 

But Good said declining enrollment shouldn’t justify VAPA cuts when officials have been sitting on funding that’s already been allocated for art. She and other community members are calling for the district to maintain VAPA programs at all campuses.

“Because of enrollment, they’re keeping that away when we had all this Prop 28 money,” she told inewsource “to me, that’s not fair.”

Giovanna Castro, communications director at Chula Vista Elementary, told inewsource that no VAPA positions have been cut as a result of funding. Instead, the offerings are determined by classroom count every year and at the campus level, she said — meaning it was Liberty officials who decided to cut their own art program.

VAPA programming at Chula Vista Elementary costs nearly $10 million annually, according to the district. School officials say they have kept their visual and performing arts program by tapping into different funding sources. 

“What we have done to save that programming is we have actually put about $4.3 million into one-time funding and we know that that funding is not going to be there,” said Jessica Morales, one of the district’s area assistant superintendents, at a board meeting last month. “It’s a challenge that we’re going to face.” 

This year, the district says it will support its VAPA program through a one-time block grant set to expire June 2026. 

Officials will also use a little over $3 million in Prop 28 funding, with the remainder of those funds used to sustain the program during the 2026-27 school year.

Chula Vista Elementary isn’t the only school district that’s received scrutiny over Prop 28 funding. 

Others in California are using that funding to pay for existing art programs. Some advocates have said that’s not allowed, arguing that Prop 28 money should increase the number of arts teachers and provide new or enhanced art programs. The funding is at the center of a lawsuit that families filed against Los Angeles Unified over the district’s use of its Prop 28 money.

Districts are in charge of distributing Prop 28 funds to their schools and are required to develop a plan on how to use the money in partnership with site leaders, such as principals. Districts with 500 or more students are required to use 80% of the funding to pay certificated and classified employees who can provide arts instruction. The remainder can be used for training, supplies and educational partnership programs. 

Once funds are distributed, it must be used within three years after which it would need to be returned back to the state Education Department. 

Chula Vista school officials said they are working on restructuring the district’s VAPA program, including adjusting staffing levels at each campus as student enrollment declines and determining other needs required to sustain classes already available. Superintendent Eduardo Reyes said he has already held several meetings on how the Prop 28 funding will be used during this school year. 

Officials will know by December how the district will restructure, he said.