The Economics of Access: Lessons from the Fine Arts Transformation in Arlington ISD and Irving ISD
- Jeremy Earnhart
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Jeremy Earnhart
Editor's Suggestion: First read The Cost of Not Playing: How Music Participation Shapes the Financial Health of a School District
Source: Author's analysis of the Arlington ISD and Irving ISD fine arts transformation initiatives. The graphic is conceptual and illustrates the economic framework described in this article; it is not intended to predict a specific payback timeline or serve as a formal financial forecast.
The Better Question
School districts often ask whether they can afford to provide musical instruments to students.
Arlington ISD and Irving ISD asked a different question.
Can we afford not to?
Between 2009 and 2017, the two districts intentionally removed one of the largest barriers to participation in instrumental music: cost. Students no longer needed to rent or purchase instruments. Uniforms became district provided. Beginning music opportunities expanded. The objective was straightforward: ensure that every student—not just those whose families could afford participation—had the opportunity to choose music.
The strategy produced measurable results. Between 2009 and 2013, secondary fine arts participation in Irving ISD increased by nearly 40 percent. Between 2013 and 2017, secondary performing arts participation in Arlington ISD increased by 22 percent. Although the two districts pursued different implementation strategies, both demonstrated that intentionally removing financial barriers and expanding access translated into substantially greater student participation.
That growth was significant not simply because more students enrolled in fine arts, but because it demonstrated that strategic investments in access could change participation patterns across an entire school system.
The results extended well beyond larger bands, choirs, and orchestras.
They revealed a broader lesson about educational systems.
The lesson was simple: expanding access to the arts was not merely a fine arts initiative—it became part of a district-wide strategy for strengthening organizational capacity, educational opportunity, and long-term financial sustainability.
This article is the practical companion to The Cost of Not Playing. If participation matters academically, culturally, and financially, the logical next question becomes:
How do districts remove the barriers that prevent students from participating?
Figure 1 is a conceptual framework rather than a district-specific financial projection. It illustrates the relationship between capital investment, participation growth, and long-term organizational efficiency. Actual outcomes will vary based on local staffing models, participation rates, inflation, maintenance and replacement costs, and other district-specific factors.
From Philosophy to Policy
Educational leaders frequently say they believe every child deserves access to the arts. Arlington ISD and Irving ISD translated that belief into district policy.
Rather than relying on fee waivers or scholarships, both districts committed to removing the financial barrier itself.
More than a decade later, that commitment remains visible in the districts own language.
"Instruments and uniforms are 100% free to each student."— Arlington ISD Core Programs, 2026
This is more than a website statement.
It represents institutional commitments that have endured long after the original initiatives were implemented.
In both districts, particularly for the Arlington 2014 Bond Program, the instrument initiative did not emerge as a stand-alone music proposal. It was developed alongside a broader district vision that included new instructional models, expanded career pathways, specialized academies, major facility investments, and a comprehensive rethinking of secondary fine arts access.
The Barrier Wasn't Interest
When these initiatives began, approximately 80 percent of Irving ISD students and nearly 70 percent of Arlington ISD students qualified for free or reduced-price meals.
It would have been easy to conclude that participation reflected student interest.
Instead, district leaders reached a different conclusion.
The barrier wasn't interest.
The barrier was access.
For many students, participating in instrumental music meant purchasing or renting an instrument, obtaining supplies, and paying additional participation costs. Others simply enrolled in courses requiring fewer financial commitments—not because they preferred them, but because those options were accessible.
When those barriers disappeared, participation increased.
The interest had always existed.
The opportunity had not.
A Systemwide Reimagining of Access
The expansion of instrumental music did not occur in isolation.
It was part of a broader reimagining of secondary education within Arlington ISD.
Arlington ISD provided a unique organizational environment for this work. Superintendent Dr. Marcelo Cavazos consistently challenged district leaders to pursue both access and excellence through innovation. Rather than simply maintaining existing programs, district leadership expected departments to rethink how opportunities could be expanded for more students.
The 2014 Bond Program and the accompanying academic planning included investments in a Fine Arts Center, Fine Arts and Dual Language Academies, expanded Career and Technical Education pathways—including musical instrument repair—multipurpose indoor rehearsal facilities, expanded instructional spaces, and districtwide investments in fine arts programming.
The district wasn't simply constructing facilities and purchasing equipment.
It was investing in a sustainable educational system.
Although this article largely focuses on instrumental music — the larger objective extended well beyond.
Fine arts participation as a whole was examined. Music represented one of the greatest unmet access needs because participation created financial barriers that simply did not exist in many other academic programs.
Fine arts did not compete with the district's other priorities—it became one of them. Alongside academics, career pathways, athletics, and specialized programming, the arts were recognized as an essential investment in expanding educational opportunity.
Providing school-owned instruments and uniforms was one expression of that broader commitment.
Arlington ISD became more than an increasingly successful fine arts initiative. It became a district-level laboratory for exploring how educational access, student participation, and organizational efficiency reinforce one another.
District leaders did not simply hope enrollment would grow.
They first established measurable participation goals and asked an important systems question:
What would healthy participation look like if every interested student truly had access?
The image above represents more than growth.
It represents evolution.
The objective was not larger ensembles.
The objective was designing a school system where opportunity—not family income—determined participation.
Planning Before Spending
Before asking taxpayers to invest, Arlington ISD first determined what success would look like.
Enrollment targets were established for each comprehensive high school across band, choir, and orchestra. Those targets became the foundation for educational planning, facility planning, instrument purchases, staffing analysis, and ultimately the bond proposal itself.
When Educational Vision Meets Financial Analysis
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the work occurred behind the scenes.
The participation models were developed collaboratively with Arlington ISD's Chief Financial Officer using district enrollment data, staffing models, class-size assumptions, and district budgeting methodology. The resulting analysis was reviewed before being presented to the superintendent and district leadership.
That distinction matters.
These were not projections prepared solely within the Fine Arts Department. They were district financial projections developed collaboratively with the Finance Department using the same analytical framework applied to other major organizational decisions.
Enrollment targets were converted into instructional periods.
Instructional periods were converted into Full-Time Equivalent teaching positions. Those teaching positions were translated into budget capacity.
The analysis showed that healthy participation levels across secondary music programs represented approximately $1.2 million annually in organizational efficiency (2014 dollars)—approximately 1.7 million in 2026 dollars (using BLS CPI-U inflation data).
The three examples highlighted in Figures 2–4 represent only a portion of the overall annual organizational efficiencies used in the analysis. The approximately $1.7 million estimate also incorporates projected junior high enrollment growth, associated staffing efficiencies, and other system-wide operational improvements identified through the districts' long-range planning process.
Importantly, this analysis was never about reducing teaching positions.
It demonstrated that increasing participation allows districts to make fuller use of instructional capacity that already exists.
Districts can choose to realize those efficiencies financially, reduce class sizes elsewhere, expand programming, or reinvest those resources in students.
In every scenario, increasing participation strengthens the system.
Community Support
Before placing the 2014 bond proposal before voters, Arlington ISD commissioned a scientific telephone survey to assess community support for potential bond investments. Among the questions asked was whether bond funds should be used to purchase musical instruments for students whose families could not otherwise afford to participate in school music programs.
The results challenged a common assumption about public support for investing in fine arts.
Seventy percent of surveyed voters supported the proposal. Perhaps not coincidentally, the 2014 bond package itself was approved by nearly the same margin.
That public support helped lead to voter approval of a bond package that included $9.8 million for instruments and uniforms.
The community understood something important:
Providing access was not simply an expense.
It was an investment.
The work also received national attention. In a 2015 article examining how school districts were using data to improve educational outcomes, The New York Times highlighted Arlington ISD's decision to eliminate instrument rental fees, noting that band participation at the middle and high school levels "jumped" (RIch, 2015).
Irving ISD: Results
The Irving High School Band grew from approximately 60 students in 2007 to approximately 250 students by 2014.
Across the district, secondary fine arts participation increased approximately 40 percent.
Growth was not accidental.
It was the predictable outcome of removing barriers and intentionally expanding access.
Looking Beyond Music
This story is not ultimately about fine arts. It is about how school systems function.
When districts intentionally remove barriers that prevent students from participating in meaningful educational experiences, students and parents respond.
Participation increases. School culture strengthens. Master schedules become healthier. Resources are utilized more efficiently.
As explored in The Cost of Not Playing and The Unexpected Attendance Strategy, the benefits extend well beyond the fine arts department.
Equal access is not simply an equity initiative.
It is an educational strategy.
It is an organizational strategy.
And it can also be a financial strategy.
What This Means for School Leaders
School leaders face difficult financial decisions every year. Too often, conversations about fine arts begin with cost.
The experiences of Arlington ISD and Irving ISD suggest beginning somewhere else.
What becomes possible when every student has access?
The answer, for these two districts, was larger participation, healthier educational systems, stronger community support, and more efficient use of existing resources.
The economics of equal access are no longer theoretical.
They have been tested.
And the results suggest that one of the most effective investments a district can make is removing the barriers that keep students from saying, "Yes, I'd like to play."
Perhaps the most important lesson from Arlington ISD and Irving ISD is that educational access and fiscal responsibility need not exist in tension.
When thoughtfully designed, they can reinforce one another.
Removing barriers to participation expanded opportunity for students, strengthened fine arts programs, improved the efficiency of existing instructional resources, and aligned with a broader vision for secondary education.
The lesson extends well beyond fine arts. When educational leaders evaluate programs solely as expenditures, they risk overlooking their influence on staffing, scheduling, enrollment, attendance, graduation pathways, and long-term organizational effectiveness. The challenge is not simply to reduce costs—it is to invest in systems that create lasting value for students and communities.
Access was not simply the right thing to do.
It was also good educational policy.
Questions for District Leaders
Where are students in our district encountering financial barriers to participation?
What organizational costs are created when students never enter the music pipeline?
Which investments generate value year after year rather than only once?
What would change if we viewed music as educational infrastructure instead of an expense?
Related Reading
References
Arlington ISD Fine Arts. (2026). Fine Arts Department. https://www.aisd.net/core-programs/
Rich, M. (2015, May 11). From Dirt to Test Scores, School Amass Data. The New York Times.
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Jeremy L. Earnhart, Ed.D.
Founder & Principal
School Music & Fine Arts, LLC
Former President & CEO, Music for All
Former Director of Fine Arts, Arlington ISD & Irving ISD
Research at the intersection of educational strategy, organizational design, and school finance. Helping school leaders uncover hidden capacity, strengthen student opportunity, and improve organizational performance through strategic fine arts design.
Dr. Earnhart is the author of The Cost of Not Playing (2026), a widely read research series on music participation and finance and organizational strategy.. His work has been featured by NPR/KERA, CBS 11, NBC 5, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
His doctoral research centered around the competencies of the central office music administrator:
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