State Board Appoints Arts Education Task Force

The North Carolina State Board of Education unanimously voted to appoint the Arts Education Task Force members at its Thursday meeting. Senate Bill 66 calls for the Task Force to consider and recommend K-12 arts education policy, implementation strategies, and funding needs to the North Carolina Joint Education Oversight Committee by December 1. The appointees include:

• Helga Fasciano, Co-Chair (NCDPI)
• Mary Regan, Co-Chair (North Carolina Arts Council)
• Becky Bailey, Facilitator (Meredith College)
• Dan Stirckland – Superintendent, Columbus County Schools
• Tony Baldwin – Superintendent, Buncombe County Schools
• Jeffrey Cox – Superintendent, Alleghany County Schools
• Jan King – Principal, Henderson County Schools
• Greg Monroe – Principal, Greene County Schools
• Alan Parker – Principal, Guilford County Schools
• Noël Grady-Smith – Dance Educator, Davie County Schools
• Barbara Geer – Music Educator (Retired), Wake County Schools
• Gordon Hensley – Theatre Educator, Appalachian State University
• Cheryl Maney – Visual Arts Educator, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
• Jane Austen-Behan – LEA Arts Coordinator, Pitt County Schools
• Catherine Demcio – A+ Schools, Wake County
• Debra Horton – Executive Director, NCPTA
• Pierce Egerton – President, ARTS North Carolina
• Martin Lancaster – President (Retired), NC Community School System
• Senator Katie Dorsett – Co-Chair, Joint Select Committee on Arts Education
• Genevieve Farmer – Member, Joint Select Committee on Arts Education

Four additional appointees are TBD, including one Senator and one Representative from the North Carolina General Assembly.

ARTS North Carolina will keep you updated on all Committee meetings, locations, processes, and decisions. This is our industry's opportunity to make sure that every child in North Carolina has equal access and opportunity to be successful in school because arts education is valued as an essential core subject.