Importance of the arts stressed to Oconee trustees

The importance of arts education was stressed last night to the Oconee school trustees.  The speaker was Fred Edgerton, last year’s district teacher of the year and long-time art teacher at Seneca High.  There’s worry on the part of art and music teachers that the subjects may be cut out or reduced in the elementary grades, as the district moves toward offering additional foreign languages in the lower grades.  A spokeswoman for the district this morning said, “The board was clear that SDOC values the arts and will not do anything to diminish our programs.”  Some elementary schools are piloting various ways to implement foreign language into their schedules this year.