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Drama, Extracurriculars Could Suffer Based On Enrollment, Funding

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By RONNIE BLAIR | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 4, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Drama students at Mitchell High will take to the stage Thursday night for a production of "Peter Pan," but even as they perform the high-flying musical there are concerns about the future of the school's drama department.
Mitchell High is losing several hundred students when Anclote High opens in Holiday in August and that is forcing changes in some of the class offerings at the school.
Nick Simons, 17, a junior, said he worries the changes could mean the end of drama at Mitchell.
"It would be a great disappointment," Simons said.
It may be premature to start burying theater productions at Mitchell just yet, though.
Principal Ric Mellin said drama class offerings could be scaled back, depending on how enrollment numbers end up, but the administration wants to keep the elective.
"Our students are very talented," Mellin said. "They do a phenomenal job."
This is the time of year when high school principals plan their class schedules for the next school year. Drawing up the master schedule, a process that involves hundreds of students and classes, isn't simple.
"It's a pretty daunting task," said Mellin, who is transferring to Land O' Lakes High later this month.
It's made more daunting by the budget crisis school districts across the state are facing. This year Mitchell also is dealing with the added twist of Anclote High's opening. The Pasco County School Board recently approved new attendance boundaries that sweep about 700 Mitchell students over to the new school.
Mitchell is well over capacity, so the enrollment drop in that sense was welcome. Fewer students, though, means fewer staff members are needed. It also means fewer courses are offered.
Principals must determine, based on the number of students who sign up for a particular class, whether that class can be sustained.
"We know that drama is a very critical position and will do everything in our power to keep it," Mellin said.
When student numbers don't add up to a full class schedule for a teacher, the principal may approach the teacher about taking on other subjects, depending on what the person is certified to teach, Mellin said. That could be true of drama or any number of electives.
"We're trying the best we can to sustain everything," he said.
David O'Hara, the Mitchell drama teacher, said enrollment for his classes for 2009-10 is projected to be 96 students, compared to 175 who are in the five classes he teaches this year.
That means he needs to do some heavy recruiting to make sure he has a full schedule.
The production of "Peter Pan" is one way O'Hara hopes to recruit, though the show is really laying the foundation for drama classes further in the future than this fall.
The show is geared toward elementary and middle school students who O'Hara hopes could be inspired to give drama a try when they reach high school.
"Peter Pan" opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pasco Schools Center for the Arts at River Ridge, 11646 Town Center Road, New Port Richey.
Performances also are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets, available at the box office the day of the show, are $12 for ages 13 to adult; $6 for ages 6 to 12; and free for children 5 and younger.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218.

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