ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — "School has been hard enough the past two years, please don't take anything else away from us," a student pleaded from the Elizabethtown Area School District.
This was one of many pleas from students in the Elizabethtown Area School District who called on their school board to keep extracurricular activities in the district.
"Without those outlets I wouldn't be who I am today," said Molly Duffy, another student in the Elizabethtown Area School District.
At a board meeting on Tuesday, the Elizabethtown Area school board unanimously agreed to not cut funding for all extracurricular programs in the district.
This consensus comes after the board requested the administration cut down the proposed $71 million budget for next year by $1 million dollars. A move that could have saved taxpayers from a 3% property tax increase.
However, the board received a proposal from the administration that included $4.3 million in cuts to the budget. A huge amount, board members said they did not ask for.
Prior to this consensus, members of the school district were on edge.
"It means that there could be less opportunities to make friends and lasting friendships and have a safe space to go to that isn't home or school," Duffy said.
Much like Duffy, extracurricular activities have had a major impact on students within the district.
A round of applause filled the auditorium of Elizabethtown Area High School's following the board's decision not to cut funding for these programs.
"Art has always been a pivotal part of my life if I would never have been introduced to it, I don't know how I would've learned to express myself," Amelie Crawford said.
