- December 16, 2025
Listed on the School Board’s Sept. 6 consent list was a renewal of the Flagler Youth Orchestra Strings Program for its seventh year, for a total district cost of $55,250. The renewal included a stipulation that the Friends of the Youth Orchestra will cover an extra $8,775, for contract costs and expenses.
Katie Hanson, president of the teachers union, questioned the renewal.
“I do not have anything against the Strings program,” she said, to preface. But Flagler County Public Schools’ total budget has been slashed by $9 million, she said, and it’s important that those cuts be shared equally across the district.
She cited shortened school days, workday reductions and denied pay increases to teachers for the last three years.
“What is their sacrifice?” she asked of the Strings program.
At the meeting’s end, board member Colleen Conkling, attending the meeting via conference call, spoke not just of music programs but of all extracurriculars.
“Even though it’s something that is small, it is still, I think, us trying to hold onto some hope in our budget, to provide outstanding programming for our kids,” she said.
The motion to renew the Stings program carried unanimously.
