Rock Ridge adds half-time music position for 2026-27 school year

Rock Ridge School Board approved a half-time music teacher for the 2026-27 school year, a move that begins to rebuild a program that took major cuts not long ago. For families in Eveleth, Gilbert and Virginia, the hire affects who gets access to band, choir and orchestra across the district.

The district’s posted opening shows the new position starts Aug. 24, 2026, carries a Monday-through-Friday schedule and requires a valid Minnesota instrumental and classroom music teaching license. Using Rock Ridge’s posted salary range of $47,598 to $90,420 for a full-time teacher, the half-time post works out to roughly $23,799 to $45,210 in base pay before benefits. The district listed Sheena Stefanich, Parkview Principal, as the contact for applicants.

The Music Task Force made the case that the extra staffing was needed because the current program was not working evenly across the district. In its administrative summary, the task force said it found inequitable access to classroom music across buildings, scheduling barriers, insufficient staffing and long-term sustainability problems. It said the additional 0.5 FTE would help address parity concerns at the elementary level, while also protecting the pipeline that feeds secondary ensembles by keeping younger students connected to orchestra and other music offerings earlier in school.

The board’s decision came after a year of hard budget choices. In July 2025, Rock Ridge was reported to be cutting more than $2.75 million, and significant cuts and layoffs hit the music department. A later board action, approved 6-1 with Jennifer Bonner opposed, moved elementary band, orchestra and voice lessons through Community Education and shifted all band, choir and orchestra to start in sixth grade. That history makes the new hire more than a routine staffing move: it shows the district is still adjusting what music instruction looks like after the cuts.

Public pressure had already built around the issue. At the board’s May 11 meeting, district leaders heard comments urging stronger support for the music program, and a parent told the board that the task force proposal had been delayed repeatedly and that clearer communication was needed. The Rock Ridge Music Task Force had already framed the issue as one of access, staffing and equity, and the June approval suggests board members decided the district could not leave those problems unanswered.

Rock Ridge was formed from the merger of the former Eveleth-Gilbert and Virginia districts, and its seven-member board now has to balance academics, staffing and community expectations in one system. Approving the half-time post signals that music remains part of that balance, even after cuts forced the district to redraw the program’s boundaries.