Dear friends, we need your help immediately in support of middle schoolers at Cedar Park, Conestoga, Five Oaks, Highland Park, Mountain View, Meadow Park, and Stoller regarding access to Jazz Band & Early Birds Choir. Administrators are considering elimination of zero period as an option for scheduling extracurricular programs, and they are meeting this week to decide.

Call to Action: If you have a student involved in or potentially interested in Jazz or Early Birds Choir, or know families at these schools, please encourage them to contact the building principal by March 18. A short, polite letter will suffice. If before-school scheduling is important to your family, please say so.

We encourage parents to ask:

• Will Jazz/Early Birds Choir be offered at our school next year?
• What days and times will it be offered?

High school students who were involved in zero period music at these schools can also be effective letter-writers. Background on this issue is provided at the end of this message. If you have questions or suggestions for this advocacy project, please write to beavertonfriendsofmusic@gmail.com

– – – – – – – 

Background: Earlier this year, BFoM learned that BSD administration made a unilateral decision to eliminate zero-period courses at middle schools beginning in the 2026–27 school year. This decision was made without input from teachers who currently run extracurricular programs, and the stated rationale was equity. No public announcement was made; music directors learned of the change through their principals. 

Central administration appears to be aiming to concentrate extracurricular activities after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so students can use the activities bus, and no one is excluded due to lack of transportation.

While well-intentioned, this change could eliminate Jazz and Early Birds Choir at some middle schools. Some directors are not available after school, and if zero period is removed without contract changes to require and compensate after-school work, the course may simply be cut. Some students cannot participate after school due to other commitments or family responsibilities. Limiting activities to two days per week will also create scheduling conflicts and could reduce programs that currently meet daily to just twice per week, weakening their rigor.

We support efforts to increase equitable access to activities, but we are concerned about implementation. Without a thoughtful phase-in plan to retain current Jazz & Early Bird Choir students while transitioning to new schedules, this decision could significantly harm existing programs. 

Schools across a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds could be affected; this is not limited to any single type of school. The schools referenced above are those currently offering music before school and therefore most likely to be impacted by the zero-period change. Until a more careful phase-in plan is developed, we propose that music directors be allowed to continue scheduling extracurricular courses at a time that works best for their school.