Join us for an inspiring evening of art, performance, and celebration at Artists in Bloom, presented by the Green Bay Botanical Garden and the Fine Arts Institute at East High.

This exciting showcase will highlight the amazing talents of Fine Arts Institute students through visual art, music, spoken word, and dance in a one-of-a-kind setting. The evening begins with doors opening at 5:30 p.m., followed by the art show at 6:00 p.m. Live performances will take place from 6:30–8:00 p.m., creating a vibrant night filled with creativity and expression.

Guests will also enjoy hors d’oeuvres prepared by culinary students, along with a cash bar.

Tickets are $20 per person and are available now at GBBG.org/ArtistsinBloom or by calling 920.490.9457.

Come celebrate the arts, support student talent, and enjoy a memorable spring evening at Artists in Bloom on April 30.

First, a sincere thanks to all of the staff, families, students, alums, and supporters who showed up for the School Board Meeting last night. The first school board meeting is over, but our work is far from done.

Contact Your Representatives

It was mentioned multiple times last night and is worth repeating: The root of the problem here is a lack of public education funding from the state. Here are just a few bullet points to back up that point:

• Public schools have not received a cost of living increase for 17 years
• Had GBAPS received a cost of living increase each year the District would have an additional $60M in revenue this school year.
• School districts have not received the 42% increase in special education funding that was promised in the state budget, to-date it has been 35%. This was an additional $3M shortfall in this school year’s budget.
• To-date, despite discussions between the Governor’s office and Republicans, no action has been taken to provide additional public school funding from the state’s significant budget surplus, which is between $4-$5 Billion
• There is currently a bill proposed that would provide 60% guaranteed special education funding for this year and next, and equalized aid which would reduce the burden on taxpayers for public schools.

We believe it would be helpful if you reached out to your state representatives and voiced your opinion on this issue. Here are a few tools to help you with that:

Click here for a list of State Senators and Representatives with email addresses and phone numbers

Click here for an interactive Wisconsin map to see who represents you

Click here for a sample letter

Stay Involved With the School Board

We strongly encourage you to stay involved at upcoming Green Bay School Board Meetings. The remaining regular board meetings this school year are scheduled for April 27, May 18, and June 22. The Board of Education Meeting Dates page is frequently updated with agendas, meeting notes, links to meeting streams, etc.

Understand the Program Review

Here’s an excerpt from an email sent to us by Associate Superintendent David Johns explaining more about the ROI study taking place and the criteria the district is using:

• Program Review – will take place for IB, AVID and the Fine Arts Academy (Webster/Wash./EHS). This will be done by an external partner. Formal program reviews are an important part of a continuous improvement process and often expose key gaps that can help a program become even better. We are starting with these three programs as they are particularly resource-intensive and it is appropriate to start here during a period of funding uncertainty. They all have unique staffing models and offer specialized courses that frequently fall far below our Board approved class size requirements for electives. 
• ROI – The Board recently approved a 5-year strategic plan with measurable outcomes for student success. Our external partner will be comparing the data from students who participate in the programs listed above to all other students of similar grades/ages who don’t participate in these programs. The areas of comparison are listed on the link under Academic Excellence and Thriving Student Body. The questions to be answered during these reviews is “How are students who participate in these programs achieving success relative to their peers and what is the actual cost of delivering that for students?” The partner does not submit a recommendation to us as to whether to keep, expand or eliminate the program. That would be for the Board to decide based on the evidence provided to them through the review.

Thank you to Mr. Johns for his immediate, detailed response to our questions.

Catch Up With Previous Posts

Click here for our March 11 update including a letter from FAI Coordinator Lucinda Roberts
Click here for our March 4 update including meeting notes and information shared at our FAI Meeting held on Monday, March 2
Click here for our original March 2 post with an overview of the potential budget cuts and what it means for the Fine Arts Institute

Stay Involved with East High Performing Arts Parents

Lastly, we also encourage you to stay involved in the Performing Arts Parents meetings for more information. Our next scheduled meeting is Monday, April 20, at 6:30 PM in the Band Room. We hope to see you there!

Parents and students are encouraged to attend an informational meeting about the music department’s 2027 Nashville Trip on Monday, April 13, at 6:00 PM in the East High Cafeteria.

This meeting will provide details about the trip and give families a chance to learn more about what to expect. Please note that Music Account Funds can be used to help pay for this trip.

We hope to see you there!

Please read this letter from FAI Program Coordinator Lucinda Roberts and consider joining us at the School Board Meeting this Monday evening.

Dear Friends of the Fine Arts Institute,

I hope this letter finds you and your family doing great!  There is much to share and I hope you could also share it with others who have benefited and supported the Institute over the years.

I am writing to keep you informed as things are beginning to unfold in regard to the Fine Arts Institute and its future.

It has been my great privilege these past 14 years to serve and build our wonderful Institute, but I announced in September that I would retire at the close of this 25-26 school year.  I wanted to provide the district plenty of time to fill my position.

This past Monday night the school board met and it was announced and published in the meeting’s minutes that they are NOT going to be filling my position and are still going to be looking at the possible closing of special programs.  The Fine Arts Institute is one of those programs.

As far as I know, the Institute will continue to run for next year (26-27), but I know nothing in regard to the 27-28 school year.

Our terrific parent organization, “Green Bay East Performing Arts Parents, Inc.” has a fabulous website:  https://eastperformingartsparents.com.  I encourage you to go to it because they are helping to organize speakers and a large attendance to the next school board meeting on Monday, March 23rd at 6pm. (If you would like to speak, use this link to fill out the speakers form-you get 5 minutes. Please try to do it prior to the meeting because there’s a chance that if many sign up, they will say “no” to those applying to speak at the door.)  

We NEED you to come to that meeting and help us pack the board room.  If you would like to speak at the meeting, talk about why you are sending your student to East and how the Institute is a part of that choice, that would be extremely helpful.

The parent’s website has a powerpoint presentation that we went over at an emergency meeting last Monday evening.  This presentation has some good data in it as well.  They are looking specifically at ROI for the validating of the Fine Arts Institute.

Please consider attending this critical meeting and help be a voice for our students and your family!  The arts have great meaning and I always remind people of where they went during covid…it was to the arts as nothing else was happening.  Netflix, books, CD’s, Bluerays…we all dug deeper into streaming!

The Fine Arts Institute is one of those incredible pieces that even for students that aren’t members, they gain great opportunities and experiences.  “When the tide comes in, all ships rise.”

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.  I’m here to help!

Thank you for considering it all-you are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Lucinda Roberts

PS- meeting will be held at the District Office Building, 200 S. Broadway, 3rd floor.

We’re looking for one more volunteer to help with Butter Braid order form and money collection at East High School this Friday, March 13.

We need someone to assist Julie Miller with money collection from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. If you are available to help during that time window, please contact us at eastfinearts@gmail.com. Your help would make the collection process run much more smoothly.

Thank you for supporting our students and our fundraising efforts!

Make plans to check out our silent auctions during both nights of Rhapsody Revue at Green Bay East High School coming up March 20-21.

The silent auction will be open:

• Friday, March 20 from 6:30–9:00 p.m.
• Saturday, March 21 from 6:30–9:00 p.m.

Each night’s winners will be announced before the 9:00 p.m. closing act.

Auction items will include artwork, quilts, jewelry, apparel, a fishing lure basket, a self-care basket, a crafting basket, and much more. All proceeds will go to support Fine Arts programs at Green Bay East High School.

Show tickets can be purchased here

Here are a few links and discussion points relating to Monday’s Fine Arts Institute Meeting. Click here if you missed the meeting and would like to see what it was about. Click here for a copy of the notes taken at the meeting.

Fine Arts Institute Director Lucinda Roberts presented information including important information and statistics about the Institute. You can view the slides here.

Dance Director Esrom Williams announced that State Superintendent Jill Underly declared March “Music, Art, Dance, and Theatre in Our Schools Month”. You can view a copy of that declaration here.

Choir/Musical Director Lindsay Tippins presented State DPI statistics related to East High School’s participation in arts-related courses compared to other schools in the state. You can view that document here.

Former East High teacher Brian Fisk spoke about the lack of funding being a statewide issue. Click here to view a map and/or enter your address to see the names of your state legislators, then email them and let them know how you feel.

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What we can do right now

Meet the Superintendent Finalists

GBAPS Superintendent finalists Michael Hernandez and Michael Trimberger will be available to answer questions at “meet the candidates” events this week. Michael Hernandez will be available at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, March 4, and Michael Triberger at the same time on Thursday, March 5, at West High School – 966 Shawano Avenue in Green Bay. Learn more about our new superintendent and voice your concerns there.

Fill out the questionnaire

A QR code was shown at the meeting that directed attendees to a short questionnaire. The information gathered with this will be used to help stress the importance of the FAI to the Board. If you haven’t filled it out, please click here and take a few minutes to do so.

Share the positives with the Board

District leadership has indicated that the most helpful action right now is for families to communicate the positives—what FAI and the arts pathway mean to students and how it has helped them.

If you’re willing, send a short message with:

• a specific example of growth or opportunity (confidence, belonging, attendance, leadership, academic improvement, auditions/portfolios, etc.)
• why the pathway matters for your student
• what you want the Board to protect as this review proceeds

Vicki Bayer (GBAPS Superintendent) – vlbayer@gbaps.org
David Johns (GBAPS Associate Superintendent) – dmjohns@gbaps.org
James Lyerly (School Board President) – jglyerly1@gbaps.org
Lynn Gerlach (School Board Vice President) – lmgerlach@gbaps.org
Andrew Becker (School Board Treasurer) – ambecker@gbaps.org
Jeanette Knill (School District Clerk) – jmknill@gbaps.org
Laura McCoy (School Board Trustee) – llmccoy@gbaps.org
Alex Mineau (School Board Trustee) – aomineau1@gbaps.org
Samantha Meister (School Board Trustee) – smmeister1@gbaps.org

Attend and stay engaged

Please consider attending upcoming GBAPS Board meetings:

• March 9 – 5:00 PM
• March 23 – 6:00 PM
• April 27 – 6:00 PM
• May 18 – 6:00 PM
• June 22 – 6:00 PM

If attending a board meeting, please wear red and/or an East High School article of clothing to show solidarity. In order to speak at board meetings you must apply. Click here to fill out the application to speak at the next School Board Meeting.

Stay involved with Performing Arts Parents

Our next meeting is schedule for Monday, March 16 at 6:30 PM in the Band Room. Until then, we’ll continue to post updates on the website and social media.

GBAPS is navigating serious budget uncertainty, and many families have asked what this could mean for fine arts—especially the Fine Arts Institute (FAI) and its pathway schools. Here’s what we know as of Monday, March 2, based on district documents and recent communication with district leadership.

1) What the district document says

In a GBAPS “Budget Saving Items for Discussion Purposes Only” document, the district lists:
“Evaluate specialty programs for ROI (ex: IB, Fine Arts, AVID, etc.)” with estimated savings “ranging from $500,000 to over $1,000,000,” and notes the goal to “Complete ROI for all specialty programs; impact on 27–28 budget.” GBAPS Budget document

2) What “Fine Arts” means in that context

District leadership has clarified that the “Fine Arts” reference in the ROI/program review discussion is focused on the Fine Arts Institute/pathway model (FAI and pipeline schools)—not eliminating all arts programming district-wide.

3) Timeline: what we’ve been told

• No changes are expected for next school year (2026–2027)
• If changes occur, they would be for 2027–2028 (per district leadership conversation)
• An external/independent partner is already reviewing data for the specialty programs listed, and findings are expected by the end of this school year (per district leadership conversation)

4) A key fact from the district’s own 2023 external analysis

A 2023 external report included a recommendation to “Strengthen the Arts Pathway,” with specific emphasis on Webster and East, and to make Washington truly an arts magnet (including recruiting students from outside the district). This matters because it shows that strengthening the arts pathway has been identified as a positive district strategy in recent years.

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What we can do right now

Share the positives with the Board

District leadership has indicated that the most helpful action right now is for families to communicate the positives—what FAI and the arts pathway mean to students and how it has helped them.

If you’re willing, send a short message with:

• a specific example of growth or opportunity (confidence, belonging, attendance, leadership, academic improvement, auditions/portfolios, etc.)
• why the pathway matters for your student
• what you want the Board to protect as this review proceeds

Vicki Bayer (GBAPS Superintendent) – vlbayer@gbaps.org
David Johns (GBAPS Associate Superintendent) – dmjohns@gbaps.org
James Lyerly (School Board President) – jglyerly1@gbaps.org
Lynn Gerlach (School Board Vice President) – lmgerlach@gbaps.org
Andrew Becker (School Board Treasurer) – ambecker@gbaps.org
Jeanette Knill (School District Clerk) – jmknill@gbaps.org
Laura McCoy (School Board Trustee) – llmccoy@gbaps.org
Alex Mineau (School Board Trustee) – aomineau1@gbaps.org
Samantha Meister (School Board Trustee) – smmeister1@gbaps.org

Attend and stay engaged

Please consider attending upcoming GBAPS Board meetings:

• March 23
• April 27
• May 18
• June 22

In order to speak at the meeting you must apply. Click here to fill out the application to speak at the next School Board Meeting.

Ask for transparency

We are asking GBAPS to publicly share:

• what is included in the FAI/pathway review
• what measures are being used
• the timeline and how results will be presented
• multiple improvement/scenario options—not just “keep vs. cut”

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The Green Bay Area Public School District has indicated it is evaluating “specialty programs” for return on investment as part of upcoming budget decisions — and that list includes Fine Arts.

Because this could have a major impact on arts opportunities for our students, the Green Bay East Performing Arts Parents are calling an emergency community meeting to share what we know, discuss what this could mean for East, and coordinate next steps.

Meeting Details

When: Monday, March 2 at 6:30 PM
Where: Green Bay East High School Auditorium

We encourage all who value fine arts in our schools to attend. This is the time to show up and help protect opportunities for our kids.

Please spread the word and invite others who care about fine arts at East. We hope to see you on March 2.