For years, generations of talented musicians have graced Buena with their presence, winning competitions and awards, performing at concerts and supporting sports’ teams with their sound. For many Bulldogs, this is something they have grown accustomed to, and even taken for granted. Unfortunately, due to severe declining enrollment shown across the board in music classes, several music classes will have to be combined or face closure unless more people enroll for the 26-27 school year.
Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) as a whole has been facing declining enrollment for many years. With many families opting to move away from California, switch to home/charter schools, fewer families having kids each year and more, this low enrollment is not an issue specific to VUSD.
High school programs often bear the brunt of the burden, being the ones most affected by declining enrollment, compared to middle and elementary schools due to there being less of them. The arts in general are heavily impacted by declining enrollment, with drama, the arts and music programs generally being the first to go when situations like these arise…