Esperanza will experience 3 different music teachers in 3 years if Mrs. Azose is transferred from Kyrene de la Esperanza to Kyrene de los Lomas. We, the undersigned parents and families of Esperanza students and concerned community members respectfully ask the Kyrene School Board and administrative staff to reverse their decision to transfer Mrs. Mandy Azose from a full-time position as music teacher at Esperanza to a full-time music teacher position at Lomas, and instead move the teacher who is slated for Esperanza into the position at Lomas.

It will disrupt the academic lives and emotional well-being of 400 fewer students if Mrs. Azose is kept at Esperanza and one less teacher is transferred between schools. Keeping Mrs. Azose would also preserve Esperanza’s 3 extracurricular music programs rather than added to the losses the students are already experiencing as other specials programs are cut and teachers are moved between schools.

When Dr. V left Esperanza after 12 years for a full-time position at Mileno rather than split her week between 2 schools, this was a great shock to our students and families. There was concern that the Ukulele Band and Mallet Band programs would cease and Esperanza students would have 2 fewer programs to look forward to as they grew up in the school. Mrs. Azose was not only able to keep those 2 cherished programs intact and continue to provide extracurricular music experiences for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, she expanded the program to include a school musical. As a Title I school, such experiences are often in short supply for many Esperanza students and families. The school community was in such support of having musical theater as an option for students that students and families weren’t charged fees to participate, opening it to more students to experience acting, singing, dancing, stagecraft, and stage tech. If Mrs. Azose is taken from Esperanza, we will most likely lose all 3 programs and become one of the 32% of Kyrene Elementary Schools without an extracurricular music program. 

The reasons provided by the district for transferring Mrs. Azose are inadequate and do not justify the disruption to Esperanza and the loss of 3 additional music programs. The average tenure of a music teacher in the Kyrene schools for the 2024-25 school year is over 5 years, with 79% of schools having the same music teacher in the 24/25 school year as they did in 23/24. This does not support the district’s stance that specials teachers do not commonly stay in the same school year to year. Esperanza’s administration wants to retain Mrs. Azose and budgeted for a full-time position for a music teacher. This is not a matter of her continuing to either be spilt between 2 schools or full time at a school, but rather a matter of being full time at Esperanza or full time at Lomas. The teacher currently slated by the district for Esperanza should be placed in the full time position at Lomas instead of Mrs. Azose also having to move. The districts other assignments can stay intact. This would reduce the disruption across Kyrene elementary schools. Esperanza students are already losing their beloved librarians as the district cuts Library Programs across the district. They are losing their STEM class, have an art teacher changing schools, and next year will have their 3rd PE teacher in 3 years. 

Our kids deserve continuity in their specials teachers and programs. Seeing older kids perform music in and out of school gives our younger students something to dream about and encourage them to stay involved at school. It brings our school together and creates a sense of community and belonging even among those who aren’t actively in the programs. It bolsters their self-esteem, helps them synthesize academic knowledge, and shows them how they’ll use everything they learn outside of school. With long-term planning and the potential to combine schools in the future, our kids deserve to keep something while they’re still at Esperanza.

Stop the losses to Esperanza students and keep Mrs. Azose at Esperanza!