Despite budget cuts, Fort Worth ISD fine arts ‘untapped resource’ for boosting academic achievement

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The arts are more than paint, music and acting.

Jesse Cannon II, Fort Worth ISD’s visual and performing arts director, sees the subject as the medium through which students can improve their reading, writing and math skills — even after the district erased parts of the program following a $1.2 million budget cut.

“We really are an untapped resource as it relates to numeracy and literacy in our district,” Cannon recently told the school board.

Fort Worth ISD cut two areas in the visual and performing arts budget to compensate for a budget tightened due to declining enrollment, according to a spokesperson. Around $737,000 in salaries were eliminated, while another $453,000 in money for supplies was cut.

Trustee Michael Ryan asked how much the district spends on elementary arts supplies per student.

The amount? $6.50 per student, Cannon said.

“I looked at what $6.50 will buy, and stretching that out for a year for each kid doesn’t cut it,” said Ryan, a former fine arts educator. “But it’s been that way for a long time.”

The Visual and Performing Arts Department is working to maximize its existing resources on campus so elementary students can still experience some sort of arts instruction, Moore said.

Nationwide, cuts to arts education are often among the first to be considered by school districts looking to balance their budgets.

Cuts were widespread throughout Fort Worth ISD, and the Visual and Performing Arts Department is dealing with it — like other administrators — by searching for additional funding through grants, Cannon said.

Trustee Kevin Lynch questioned how the arts can support student achievement. Cannon sees an opportunity for the arts to contribute to academic growth when students reach middle school.

In the sixth grade, students have more fine arts opportunities, he said. The district provides art teachers literacy instruction that shows them ways in which reading and writing can be folded into their classes.

“Not only are our students literate as it relates to the content area, but they’re also writing, as they’re looking at artwork, about what they see. They’re also writing in choir about the text and what the symbolism is and tying all of those things to some of the other cross-curricular standards,” Cannon said.

The Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan and independent research nonprofit, determined arts educational experiences impact students’ academic, social and emotional outcomes. The 2019 study, which examined an arts program in Houston, found its students had fewer disciplinary problems and improved writing test scores.

Brookings noted, however, few large-scale studies investigating the educational impacts of the arts exist, and U.S. school systems rarely collect and report basic data about arts programs.

Fort Worth ISD is committed to delivering arts education, Cannon said. Internal district data shows students who completed more than two years of fine arts courses performed better than those who met state requirements.

“While arts education is just as much about creativity, it also plays a significant role in students’ academic performance,” Cannon said.

Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.