Elementary school arts program safe for now going into legislative session

SALT LAKE CITY — A beloved arts program has been spared for now, following a Utah State Board of Education meeting Thursday that discussed possibly reducing its funding going into the 2026 legislative session.

The Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program (BTS) is a legislatively funded arts program that allows for arts integration at the elementary level. The program is named for longtime arts-in-education advocate Beverly Taylor Sorenson, who started the program in the mid-1990's. It wasn't until 2008 that the program became funded by the state through grants.

Lisa Cluff, the executive director at Friends of BTS Arts, explained that the program works with many universities throughout the state to provide training for teachers to be able to become certified in their art medium, as well as ongoing support and training. She further added that the funding is used to pay teacher salaries, provide art supplies, fund professional development in the arts and support research for the arts in education.

"$292,000 goes toward administration, and $19,445,000 is for the program," she said. "These are both ongoing funds. It works out to be about $30,000 per school, and there are 466 BTS schools statewide."

The continued funding for this program was on the agenda at Thursday's meeting, which was held to discuss how to reduce the budget by 5% or $295.9 million. The reduced budgetary needs came following a letter from the chairs of the Legislature's Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee. The news of a possible "100% reduction" of the program took thousands of people by surprise and left them devastated. Members of the board expressed similar frustrations during the meeting.

"I imagine it was around 2 o'clock yesterday (when the news broke) … because then all of our phones at this table started to blow up with people emailing and texting and calling," boardmember Joseph Kerry from District 2 said during the meeting Thursday.

"I will tell you that every call that I was able to field, the people on the other end of that call were nothing but polite, courteous and professional. They were upset, but it wasn't the anger; it was more like, 'Why? We just voted to make Beverly Taylor Sorenson funding our number three board request.' And then I'm looking at this document and now we're saying let's eliminate all the funding for Beverly Taylor Sorensen? I can't even reconcile that. I can't explain it to someone who says, 'Wait a second. You're saying that you're going to allocate this money to your board priorities? BTS is already one of your priorities.' … The legislature is asking us to do this. We need more time."

Cluff said that when she heard that the program was slated for a possible complete reduction in funding, she immediately sent out a call to action to those within her community, adding that the reaction was "overwhelming."

"It really touched my heart," Cluff said. "We emailed out Wednesday night, and board members received thousands of messages of people sharing their stories on the impact that the BTS program has had. … We have such great support for these programs. Beverly would be so happy."

'The biggest thing is what it does for the kids'

Cindi Arnold is a music teacher at Pony Express Elementary in Eagle Mountain who has been teaching for 24 years, the last four as a BTS-certified teacher. She said that the training she has received has been invaluable.

"The biggest thing is what it does for the kids," Arnold said. "To be able to have highly qualified art teachers who are not only teaching art, but who are integrating it with reading and social studies and science and math as well, is highly beneficial for kids.

"The cool thing to me is that kids can be so successful in these art classes when they're struggling to find success in reading or math," she continued. "When they come to my classroom, I don't know who's struggling in reading. I don't know who's behind in math. They can all be successful in my room in a different way. That's what I love about it."

Brady Bluhm is a parent and community volunteer within the arts program, who often helps with school plays. He echoed Arnold's sentiments, adding that keeping these programs in the public schools is important, particularly for those who might not be able to get the opportunities elsewhere.

"One of the things that impacts me the most is the disadvantaged areas and kids who don't have the opportunity to be introduced to the arts," Bluhm said. "Those are the kids who will be impacted the most, and they are the ones who benefit so much because they don't get those opportunities outside the classroom. They get exposed to all sorts of arts through BTS."

Bluhm is well-known for his role as "The blind kid" in the movie "Dumb and Dumber" and for his voiceover role as Christopher Robin in "Winnie-the-Pooh" movies. He said that, even though acting hasn't played much of a role in his adult life, having opportunities like those provided by the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program has given him and his own children opportunities they likely wouldn't have otherwise.

"Being in arts programs changed my life and the lives of my kids a lot," he said. "I feel if anything, we should be investing more into these types of programs."

Safe for now

The board meeting went well into the evening on Thursday, with no "official vote" going into the subcommittee's Jan. 21 meeting. Cluff said, however, that she read an email from a board member stating that "BTS Arts will still be a priority and will not be recommended for a cut."

KSL was able to connect with USBE member Emily Green of District 14, who said that the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program is something the board "truly values."

"As a (Utah State Board of Education) boardmember, I can say that the Beverly Taylor Arts Program is something we truly value," Green told KSL. "Each legislative session, we've made a strong effort to keep it in our top ten funding requests. We take a broad, open look at all funding priorities and through that process, this program continues to rise to the top as an important priority."

With teachers, parents, and students breathing a collective sigh of relief for now, the decision ultimately rests with state legislators. The board will meet and recommendations will be discussed by the committee on Jan. 21.

Related topics