West Jordan resident Kenzie Gustafson likes to learn new things. She’s currently studying the Japanese martial art aikido and was eyeing silversmithing.
But the 23-year-old will have to find another way to learn the craft of metalwork. That’s because, after 54 years, the Salt Lake City School District is shuttering its community education program. It will end in July.
The district declined KUER’s request for an interview, but in a statement, it said the adult program “was using resources that could be directed towards the classroom.”
“Since this program is outside the mission of the district, which is PreK through 12th grade, it was determined to end the program,” a district spokesperson wrote.
Its after-school community education program for K-12 will continue.
Flipping through the current spring catalog for the 70 classes at the district’s three high schools, there’s a wide range of offerings — from Scottish Country Dancing and “Drawing for Absolute Beginners,” to Japanese language and financial literacy.
Since hearing the news, Gustafson said she has been looking for other places to take classes, but can’t find somewhere with things that interest her within her schedule and budget. At the district, she paid $65 for two months of martial arts classes three times a week.
Many classes are around $60 to $85, but can range from $5 to $390.
“I just want a place to be able to, like, not have to spend a significant chunk of change just to, like, enjoy my life and get new skills,” Gustafson said. “I don't want to have to take an entire loan out to do it.”
In addition to the price, Gustafson also liked the community and welcoming atmosphere. A lot of her classmates are older than her.
“I actually really like that,” Gustafson said. “Because I don't know what other situation I would meet these people.”
Madeline Sepulveda, a district employee who supervises the community education program at East High School, said class participants often commented on the affordability.
“We tried to make them affordable, and it was a way for the community to come in and learn something new and have fun with it,” Sepulveda said. “These classes encourage you to just try and do things and not be scared of it.”
Sepulveda is a lifelong lover of community education classes. Before working for the program, she took classes through it as a child and an adult. She also enjoyed working on the other side and loved the community.
“I think learning is such a valuable part of being an adult, and a great way to keep your brain going and have fun with it.”
It’s disappointing, she said, and a loss for the community to see this go. Sepulveda doesn’t think there is a program as accessible in the Salt Lake City area to replace it. The Granite School District shuttered its community education program in 2018 to better focus on K-12.
Terminating the program means that Sepulveda is losing her full-time job. Program supervisors at the other two high schools will also be impacted. There are also the 45 instructors, Sepulveda said, who are losing a place to teach their classes.
Gustafson’s martial arts instructor, Benjamin Goldstein, has taught his class for about three years at East High’s program. It’s not a moneymaker for him; he said he barely breaks even with insurance premiums.
“I love practicing aikido and sharing it,” Goldstein said.
With the community education program, Goldstein said it was easy for new students to find him as they looked through the course catalog. The group will sometimes hang out after class to celebrate progress.
“It's saddening to see that go away, especially when it's sudden, and we have no communication as to why.”
Lack of transparency was a frustration for Goldstein, Sepulveda and Gustafson.
The district told KUER they’ve “been studying this issue for a few years, and the decision was made earlier this year.”
Sepulveda said she was told the news during a meeting a couple of weeks before spring classes started in mid-March, and she let the East High School instructors know by email March 16.
Goldstein said he felt blindsided. Gustafson said she heard the news from her teacher rather than from the district.
In an email, retired community education supervisor Kathleen Curry Griffin wrote that for more than 54 years, this program has “served as a vital bridge between our schools and the broader community.”
“Community Education reflects the very mission of public education: to serve, to include, and to strengthen the community as a whole,” Curry Griffin noted.
She wants the district’s school board to publicly discuss the program’s closure and let more people weigh in.
Gustafson said her classmates have been talking about how to stop the closure, but it feels like they’re all grasping at straws. Her classmates are also looking for a new place for Goldstein to teach aikido, but Gustafson said a new location would likely raise the cost and price her out.
“I feel like Utah is overall, like, a pretty community-based place,” Gustafson said. “For them to kind of just pull the rug under people like that is kind of, it's really disappointing.”
