Three hundred thousand dollars in grant money available through Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley was left unused during the most recent round of funding. A nonprofit organization specifically developed to help raise the level of art awareness—in dance, music, theater and the visual arts—Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley provides cash grants directly to public elementary schools, grades K­6.

I would think that the San Jose Unified School District and its elementary schools would be clamoring to get their hands on some of that funding. They are certainly crying out for everything else. But the only school in Willow Glen that took up the offer was Booksin Elementary. The other elementary schools in the Willow Glen community and the district, which could have also applied with a separate request, never did.

So those untapped funds went back in the system for other uses.

But with art programs continually at the bottom of a school's wish list—because just getting the basics is a struggle—it seems that this organization is offering a wonderful first step toward dealing with this problem in our schools. So how come more Willow Glen schools didn't apply?

When I asked Cultural Initiatives Communication Coordinator Jennifer Leclerc, she said there were several reasons the grant money was left unclaimed. One major problem was that many schools didn't have anyone on staff who knew how to write a grant proposal. Another reason was that so many schools don't have an arts program they don't even know where to begin.

It's a sad day in education when a school doesn't know how to resurrect a music or arts program. And it's even more depressing to think that a school or district can't find the time or energy to locate someone who might volunteer his or her time to help write a grant proposal.

I don't deny that grant writing is a complicated process. But if I was a school administrator and discovered I could get $10,000 per year for four years and a technical assistant to help develop the program to boot, I would do everything in my power to locate anyone who had grant writing skills.

Booksin did, and they are reaping the benefits.

Art is still considered a critical part of a child's education, and numerous studies have demonstrated that music programs improve learning skills and test scores. The latter should be a darn good reason for school administrators to locate grant writers.

And if the problem is that administrators don't know how to start because their school's music or arts program is lost in a layer of dust, there are probably numerous musicians or independent music teachers that would help initiate a school program. Maybe it could begin as a part-time position.

It is always easy to find excuses for why these types of programs aren't implemented. It's easy to argue that administrators and teachers are overworked and are putting out too many other fires to focus on the arts. But that argument is weak.

If one school in Willow Glen can step up, rally the parents and make it work, so can the others. And the district could help by taking a leadership role and providing the guidance necessary to bring these arts programs into the schools. Ten school districts throughout the Bay Area found the time, energy and grant writers to make it a reality—Cupertino Union, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Moreland school districts, just to name a few. Now it's time for the San Jose Unified School District to step up and do the same.

When Cultural Initiatives announces its third round of funding, this district's top priority should be to find a grant writer. Because leaving free money on the table benefits no one, and these children deserve an opportunity to share in the joys of discovering the arts.

Moryt Milo is the editor of The Willow Glen Resident. She can be contacted at 400.200.1051 or mmilo@svcn.com.