On Tuesday morning, dozens of students at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts opted out of their morning classes and instead gathered outside D.C. Public Schools’ central offices in Northeast D.C., protesting a proposed DCPS takeover of their school’s governance. The students argue it would threaten the future of their beloved arts curriculum. Currently, the school is run jointly by DCPS, which controls the academic portion of the curriculum, and a nonprofit called the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Project, or DESAP, which has control over the school’s arts curriculum and leadership.

Together, the students chanted and held signs that read, “No funds, no arts, no future,” “A world without music is a world without color,” and “Can a math teacher perform a monologue?”

DCPS has framed its desire to take over operations of the school as an important step for improved oversight and accountability. But Duke Ellington students, parents, and school leadership say they don’t have faith that the school will maintain what makes it special while under DCPS control — and don’t feel the school system has a fundamental understanding of the importance of the arts.

Duke Ellington has a unique structure. It’s a public school where students graduate with a DCPS diploma, but students must audition to get in. They attend academic classes for most of the day, but after 3 p.m. they transition to the arts part of their day, where they work on their chosen craft in programs that include theater, museum studies, visual arts, and music. Their academic teachers have contracts with DCPS, but many of their other instructors are working artists and professionals in the community. (The Washington Informer reported that just 30 out of the school’s 200 teachers are employed through DCPS contracts.) And it’s run through a partnership that involves DCPS, which provides about 70-80% of the school’s funding, and DESAP. The two parties negotiate over the terms of their relationship every five years, according to the Washington Informer; The latest tensions come as they are renegotiating that agreement, which is set to expire in 2023.

NBC Washington first reported DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee’s intention to assume governance of the school last February. The news came after a Duke Ellington teacher was accused of sexual misconduct, and another former teacher at the school was charged with sexual abuse of a minor.

The incidents sparked concern about school leadership’s handling of the complaints — and DCPS officials have framed the takeover as an important step for improved oversight. In an emailed statement to DCist/WAMU, a DCPS spokesperson said its goals for the school included “improved supports for student safety, operations, and accountability.”

DCPS officials have also promised they’ll maintain the school’s pride and joy: its arts programming. But as negotiations continue, school officials, teachers, and students feel the school system hasn’t given them a clear plan — or a clear guarantee — for the school to maintain its strength in the arts if it moves under DCPS control.

At the protest, students laid out their demands. They want DCPS to allow DESAP to maintain governance over the school. They want their current principal, Sandi Logan, to remain in place. And they want a guarantee that the school will receive full funding for its dual arts curriculum.

In speeches on Tuesday, the students pointed out what they loved about their school: A nearly 100% graduation rate; a diverse student body where the majority of students are Black and come from Wards 5, 7, and 8; a welcoming space for LGBTQ+ students who wouldn’t feel as safe elsewhere; and a pre-professional arts curriculum unlike any other in the city.

In a statement, a spokesperson for DCPS said the school system is committed to maintaining the arts at Duke Ellington.

“DCPS is committed to maintaining the integrity and high-quality of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts phenomenal arts programming,” the spokesperson wrote. “The gifts within the student body and teacher workforce are a source of pride for Washington DC, and we want to preserve the dual-curriculum nature of the school for generations of young talent to come.”

Other items under negotiation include teacher pay and the question of whether DCPS will require all instructors at the school — including those who are not teaching traditional academic classes — to go through a licensure process. On Tuesday, a DCPS spokesperson said that DCPS’s proposal supports pathways to licensure for the arts professionals on staff, and also supports compensation parity in cases “when licensure is not the best option.” Currently, the Washington Post reported, the funding scheme does not allow the school to pay its arts teachers as much as the academic teachers who have DCPS contracts.

Overall, Duke Ellington students worry that changes to the governance structure will threaten the things they love about their school. At the protest, they showcased the fruits of their curriculum. Two students performed full monologues. Another played the saxophone. Two students from the marching band led the students in a march and chant.

And two students performed several poems they wrote for the protest.

“What is Duke without the instruments?” they asked before the crowd. “Hearing violins on the third floor … learning LMC [Literary Media & Communications] critique so you can voice what your opinion is.”

Dest’n Montague, who wrote and performed the poem with his brother Ciri, said he went to the protest because he wanted to make sure his school’s arts program wasn’t reduced.

“There’s no Duke without arts,” said Dest’n, 15. “It’s literally the dream for a young artist…I don’t think they understand how talented we all are and how big this is for us.”

Before he attended Duke, Dest’n said he felt isolated.

“I really didn’t have anybody that I felt was like me,” he said. “I wasn’t really in an environment before Duke where everybody was ready to build on each other, and everyone was serious about their craft and not playing around.”

“In one year, Duke has helped me grow so much,” added Ciri, a 16-year-old sophomore.

Doreen Blue, a Duke Ellington parent who helped organize the protest and serves on the parent-teacher organization for the school, said she’s expecting an update on the proposal from DCPS as early as Tuesday evening — where she’s hoping the school system will honor the Duke Ellington community’s requests.

Blue said part of the issue at hand is a longstanding lack of trust between the Duke Ellington community and DCPS.

“DCPS has a huge trust level issue with all of us,” said Blue. “That is something that has been going on for years … it’s a huge trust gap.”