Next common sense sprung into action and we (the parents) asked for a list of the supplies and we would purchase them privately ourselves to keep the art program operating. No list was provided. So thinking again, we did manage to get the total expenditures for art supplies from the prior year's accounting. So we purchased all of the same materials, same quantities, and same terms of delivery. Oddly enough, it only came to about $18,000. The schools claimed they had to cut art because they couldn't get their $162,000 for art supplies which we bought for $18,000.
It turns out the real motives were that two art teachers wanted to take a six month sabatical trip to Italy for purposes of professional education in their field. The money was really for that and substitute teachers to fill in while they were gone. They were pissed they could not go. They refused the $18,000 of art supplies, as they were already swimming in carry over inventories from prior years. We donated it to a neighboring school district who gladly accepted the stuff.
School districts do some pretty sneaky crappy stuff to the taxpayers. They are always going into "Closed Session" when it's anything important.
bttt!
They pulled this in the state of Nevada, as well. Tax hikes needed “for the children” promising to maintain or reduce class sizes. They forced a tax hike through the state Supreme Court. The teachers got raises and the class sizes got bigger.