Funding
Overview
The funding for these award-winning Music Programs comes from four main sources:
- The District itself (MBUSD)
- The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation (MBEF)
- Booster Clubs / direct parent donations
- The PTSA/PTAs
The District funds about 39% of the the total cost of the Music program, with MBEF contributing another 36%, for a total of about 75%. The remaining 25% or so is funded directly by parents.
The district and MBEF together fund almost all of the direct costs of music instruction, such as teacher salaries, as well as most of the other costs related to the Elementary Schools Program. Together, that amounts to around $1 million annually. This year, according to the MBEF website "MBEF funded 48% of [direct] music instruction in Grades 1-12" with an annual grant of about $500,000, which represents under 10% of the current overall MBEF grant. It is noteworthy that when MBEF was founded in 1983, its primary purpose was to enrich existing programs such as art and music.
The rest of the operational expenses such as sheet music, music licensing, instructors, clinicians, coaches, competition & festival entry fees and related expenses, large instruments, instrument repairs, equipment, interactive music software, supplies, marching band uniforms, transportation, and much more are funded by parents and community supporters - directly through the various Booster Clubs in High School and through parent donations in Middle and Elementary schools; and indirectly through the various PTSA/PTA's.
Overall, parents directly contribute around a quarter of the overall funding (around $325000) of the Music Programs in the District. For the Middle and High Schools this direct parent funding rises to almost 40% of those programs' costs.
Levels
Elementary
The Elementary Music Program currently consists of 1 part-time (0.5 FTE) teacher to provide General Music instruction in Grades 1-2 for a semester each year and 3 full-time teachers to teach Band, Choir & Strings in Grades 3-5.
In addition, there are 3 part-time Music Assistants for each of Band, Choir & Strings.
MBMS
The District/MBEF pays the salaries of the two teachers (Instrumental Music & Choir) and provides additional funding to cover the costs of two assistants (Instrumental Music Assistant & Choir Musical Accompanist).
An additional $12,500 has been budgeted by the MBMS PTA in 2019/20 to support the Music Programs. These payments are to cover expenses like Sheet Music, classroom supplies, etc
The rest of the funding (averaging $60,000 annually) is provided directly by parents. This covers interactive music software, printing, instrument purchase and repair, accessories (music stands etc.), music licensing, competition & festival entry fees and concert expenses.
Mira Costa
The District pays for the salaries of the Band, Orchestra and Choir directors, instrumental instructional assistant, choir accompanist and partial funding for sheet music and continuing education.
Other operational expenses such as music, instructors, clinicians, coaches, competition & festival entry fees, large instruments, tuning, equipment, supplies, marching band uniforms, transportation, workshops and much more are funded by parents and community supporters through the various Booster Clubs. On average, these expenses total almost $250,000 annually combined. Further information on "Fair Share Donations" and Booster Club expenditures is available here: Band, Choir, Orchestra.
The MCHS PTSA provides individual Teacher Grants that Music Teachers can apply for.