Approve Renewal Agreement for Technical Services with the Arts Council of Hillsborough County for Artists-in-the-Schools Program, 2007/2008, $121,332 (Curriculum and Instruction Division)

We request approval of the renewal Agreement for Technical Services with the Arts Council of Hillsborough County to provide the Artists-in-the-Schools Program. The Artists-in-the Schools program employs and trains over 50 professional artists and touring companies to present workshops and performances in theatre, dance, music, media, visual arts, and poetry in every elementary, secondary, magnet, and special school. In addition, instructional programs in the arts for teachers and administrators are provided. Hillsborough County’s Artists-in-the-Schools Program, a nationally recognized program in our district for over 34 years, is used as an arts-in-education model by many school districts throughout the nation.

Years of study have shown that students of the arts continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the Scholastic Assessment Test. The arts are also a vital and significant source of inspiration toward “wellness,” defined as the universal desire toward improving our states of mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. For these reasons and many more, the mission of this program is to infuse and integrate the arts into every student’s day.

During the 2006/2007 school year, 166,098 students and teachers participated in 1,481 arts experiences, presented by 126 performing companies and individual artists in 205 K-12 regular, exceptional, magnet, charter, and alternative school sites. This comprehensive program is funded jointly by the District and the Arts Council. Matching funds for this in-school program are provided by grants, fees, and donations made by individual organizations.

Total Outside Funding - $223,000: Grants, Southwest Florida Water Management, District, City, and County Water Departments - $120,000; Foundation/Corporate Support - $3,000; Earned Income - Field Trip Program - $25,000; Magnet School/After-School Programs - $37,000; School and PTA Purchased Programs - $33,000; Miscellaneous contracts for services and grants programs - $5,000