Petition: Keep Henry Sibley Choir Director at Sibley

A petition is circulating to protest a budget-cutting measure that would reduce the position of Henry Sibley's choir director and send him to the elementary school level to teach.

Aaron Kapaun teaches all five high school choirs, in addition to small groups before and after school. He is in his ninth year with the district.

Official staff reductions are to be released to the public tonight, May 2 at the District 197 School Board meeting at Mendota Heights City Hall.

The district is cutting $1.9 million for next school year, which will raise class sizes and affect a number of staff and faculty positions. Cuts are also expected to be made to the district’s band and orchestra positions, along with core curriculum impacts.

Kapaun made the announcement to his classes on Friday that he may not be returning to Sibley.

The petition was initiated by Choir President Zack Stegeman over the weekend.

According to numbers that Stegeman was given, Kapaun will be working .68 time at Somerset Elementary, .16 as a floating vocal teacher for fourth grade and have an unrequested leave of .12 time. *

“It just ridiculous that they want to take him out of Sibley,” said Stegeman. “He literally made that program.” The program has grown to hundreds of students under Kapaun’s direction, according to the petition.

“Being in choir in high school was one of the best experiences of my life mainly because of how Kapaun ran the class,” said Ben Marshall, a ’07 grad and a signer of the petition. “He treated us all as adults and instilled a really great work ethic into us, and we had some great results.”

If the position is reduced, it will likely come as no surprise to Kapaun, who has faced potential lay-offs in the past due to a lack of seniority in the district. Marshall said he attended a “sit-in” at a school board meeting years ago to protest similar cuts.

“Kapaun has been a huge personal influence on not just me but other people— building self-confidence and a sense of work ethic,” Marshall said. “Without the experience I had with him I don’t think I’d be where I am at the U (University of Minnesota) today. I’m dead serious about that.”

Stegeman said he and others plan to attend tonight’s school board meeting to show their support for keeping their teacher at Sibley.

“I feel that it’s not right that just because someone has more tenure than someone else—I don’t know—he basically made this choir what it is today,” Stegeman said.

To view the petition, visit http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/kapaun/.

The school board agenda (attached) and agenda packet are available online, but do not include detailed information on the staffing cuts.

Check back with Patch for more information about the petition and cuts to district staff and programming.

**This article has been edited to include the accurate distribution of the proposed position.