Logan Students Release Video on Budget Cut Impacts

With growing concerns that cuts to local education could trickle down to high school extracurricular programs, students have taken to the web to call for support.

Students enrolled in music, forensics and other extra-curricular programs at James Logan High School released the above video on Monday to urge the community for support.

“We are desperately trying to save our prominent programs and we hope that this video will help you make your decision when voting (on ),” wrote the person who uploaded the seven-minute clip to YouTube.

Directed by student Leslie Le, the video features interviews with a number of students, teachers and alumni.

"Having the music program being taken away from me is like taking away my own life," band student Connie Truong said.

"[Music is] an escape for us, it's solace. It's where you find your sanctuary from the life we're all forced into," Nick Jensen, a senior band student at Logan, said. "I can't imagine what it would be like to try to go through high school without it."

The school district faces close to $11 million in cuts for the 2012-13 school year. Based on those projections, the school district may be forced to increase class sizes, reduce the instructional year and eliminate elementary school music, science and math specialists and cut all middle school electives. In addition, the district has issued to teachers and classified staff.

Co-curricular and extra-curricular activity stipends are also in jeopardy again, according to district staff.

In an effort to mitigate those cuts, the district has placed Measure H, a $180 per parcel tax measure, on the June 5 ballot. If approved, the measure would raise $12 million over a period of four years to “support high-quality local elementary, middle and high school education, to prepare students for college and careers with outstanding core academic programs in reading, writing, math and science, with highly qualified teachers and classified staff,” according to the ballot statement.

A is being held this Friday at Paddy’s Coffee House from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Watch the student-made video above.