The Batavia School District has decided that we, the music students of Batavia, no longer need an orchestra director to learn. For the purposes of thinning out the number of music teachers, they have "let go" of the Rotolo Middle School Orchestra Director, Chris Griffith, leaving the students of Rotolo Middle School without proper leadership. They plan to replace him with one of the currently sitting band teachers. This is outrageous. The music department is an extremely crucial part of our education at Batavia; Chris Griffith is an extremely crucial component of the Batavia Music Program. It takes a special type of commitment, talent, patience, and knowledge to instruct a complex subject such as Orchestra. The dedication of Chris Griffith is unmatched. He doesn't do this job for the money or the opportunity; He does it for students. His webpage, http://mrgriffithstrings.weebly.com, is tailored to the needs of the students having pages for proper technique, proper instrument care, extracurricular music opportunities for students, music academic help, and more. Spending hours of his own time to create unique lesson plans for his students every day of every week, Chris Griffith 's dedication is unquestionable and awe-inspiring. There are important objectives that we believe have been violated. BPS has said that their commitments to students include, "Developing the whole child by providing a variety of learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom" and, "Focusing all resources — people, time and money — on the critical task of maximizing student success". You cannot develop a whole child by giving them a variety of learning experiences beyond the classroom if there is no one qualified to do so. Mr. Griffith is possibly the most qualified person to do such a job such as opening doors for students that they would not regularly receive. As for the proper allocation resources, the School Board as made a mistake by removing Chris Griffith from his position. The Batavia Music Program has been steadily growing for several years. From consisting of just a couple dozen to now over one-hundred, the number of applicants for orchestra in the Batavia School District is exploding. This is no time for the removal of the director of Orchestra. Not only will this benefit the students involved, keeping Mr. Griffith will relieve the stress on the many other teachers responsible for the care and education of those students. Also included on the BPS website, the promise that the Batavia School District will, "Cultivate a positive and productive working environment that attracts, develops and retains high-quality staff." This is also violated, seeing as Mr. Griffith is an extremely qualified, respectable, and genuine man. Mr. Griffith is currently the leader of Strings, an extra-curricular band of string students that perform around the city, a member of the Fox Valley Orchestra, the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, a 7 year decorated music director, and ISU graduate. His dedication extends beyond the call of duty and is extremely beneficial not only to the students of the Rotolo Middle School Orchestra but all of the students of the Batavia Music Program. Chris Griffith should be there to stay.