LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Supporters of the arts at Cassidy Elementary are pushing to keep it alive after they say the program had to be cut due to a lack of resources. The school district, though, has said choices like that are up to decision-makers at the individual school level.
The first thing that hits you when you walk into Bourbon n' Toulouse is the smell of Cajun food. After that, you notice the artwork.
"Our first group of misfit employees 20 years ago, they were all art majors at UK," said co-owner Kevin Heathcoat.
That's why Heathcoat was so upset when he heard the arts program at nearby Cassidy Elementary would be cut next school year.
"This is something that truly, we feel, is not good for our neighborhood, or our community, or our children," Heathcoat said.
District officials have said the decision was made at the school level by the School-Based Decision Making Council. Fayette County Public Schools spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith said the district has made no budget cuts. She said the only difference in funding for next year is that ESSER funds, money that was given to schools by the federal government to help them get through the pandemic, expire in September. She said most of that money was given to the SBDM teams to decide how to use and that they encouraged the schools not to use them for personnel, although she said many did.
"The SBDMs are being given impossible choices," said Laura Hartke, an organizer with Kentucky 120 United AFT, the teachers' union.
Hartke said the district should find ways to divert money from central office to ensure art programs continue across all schools.
"We all know that the SBDMs are being thrown under the bus when we have the resources for the district to fund those music, art, library positions and that way the SBDMs don't have to make those cuts," Hartke said.
Back at Bourbon n' Toulouse, Heathcoat says he wants to put his full support behind the young artists at Cassidy.
"Any artist from Cassidy that brings in a piece of artwork, hangs it on our walls, we'll give them a free meal and support. If you've got some artists at home, we'll give you a meal to bring in their artwork," Heathcoat said.
