Why this matters
CVESD, the fourth largest school district in San Diego, spends nearly $10 million a year on visual and performing arts programs.
A flyer circulating on social media claims that Chula Vista school leaders plan to make massive cuts to the arts and music funding, but district leaders say they don’t know where the rumor came from.
The flyer — posted over the weekend by an anonymous account — urged community members of the Chula Vista Elementary School District to fight a proposal to slash the Visual and Performing Arts program’s nearly $10 million budget by more than half. The cuts could lead teachers to split their time across as many as eight campuses, the flyer claimed.
Some of the district’s parent-teacher organizations also shared the post.
But Giovanna Castro, the district’s director of communications, told inewsource that there is no plan before the board to make reductions.
“There is no proposal,” she said. “I do not know who produced the flyer or its purpose.”
inewsource contacted school board President Lucy Ugarte and the district’s teachers union but didn’t receive a response.
The board last discussed VAPA funding in August, when the district shared its annual report on Proposition 28 funding for arts and music education, showing an annual state allocation of about $3.4 million for the district beginning in 2023-24.
The VAPA program at Chula Vista Elementary has received state and national recognition. Earlier this year, it was awarded Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to music education nationwide. This is the eighth year that the district has received this distinction.
The next school board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 18.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
