Funding for elementary school band is on the chopping blocks for the regular school year – again – and students, parents, and staff are protesting the decision.
A rally on April 22 saw around 30 people outside of Thomas Haney Secondary School, ahead of a Finance Committee of the Whole public input meeting, begging trustees not to cut funding for the program.
In the 2026/27 proposed preliminary budget, elementary band for Grade 6/7 students will be offered as a summer course through the Summer Learning Program this July.
Classes will take place at Thomas Haney Secondary School and the program would provide 40 hours of instruction, where students would either take a three and a half hour class every day over a three week period in July, or two and a half hours per day over a three and a a half week period.
A target class size of 30 is needed to run the program and the number of classes offered will be determined by the amount of student interest and qualified teachers available.
Parent Sarah Larocque is concerned there was not a genuine effort on the part of the district to find viable solutions to maintain the elementary band program.
The program, she noted, has been running successfully for the last 35 years.
Music education has so many documented benefits, said Larocque, who has a son currently in the elementary program and another in the secondary music program.
Her 11-year-old son was looking forward to band next year. It’s her child’s team sport, she said.
“It’s done wonders for his anxiety,” added Larocque.
Larocque claimed the district knew the format they wanted to go with and closed their minds to suggestions. She contended they also neglected to include parents in the conversations.
“Which we believe is a giant mistake,” she said, noting the district wouldn’t relegate basketball to a summer school offering.
“Why is it okay for band?” she asked.
Melissa Maltais’ son Logan is currently in the elementary band program.
“Right now, for many kids in this district, elementary band isn’t one option among many, it’s the only access they have to music education,” said Maltais. “Cutting it without a real replacement doesn’t just reduce opportunity, it removes it entirely. And once that door closes in elementary school, most students never walk back through it in high school.”
Last year there were rallies against proposed cuts to the elementary band program, for a budget saving of around $82,000.
The school district decided to on a one-time basis to use $82,000 from the 2024/25 operating fund surplus to support the program.
During the year, an extracurricular elementary band working group was formed to find a cost-neutral way or ways to operate the program.
Three ideas were floated in January:
• the Summer Learning Program;
• a multi-site music leadership block where music leadership students from two or more secondary schools would share in the learning experience with elementary students at a single campus;
• or the music leadership program where an instructional block would allow students in Grades 10-12 taking a BAA-approved Music Leadership course to support the program with their involvement with the elementary students, while the band teacher would still be in charge of providing the music instruction.
Larocque noted the summer program is a reduction of 170 spaces if there is only one class of 30 who are allowed into the program, and she believes it will really limit access to the program for a lot of students in the district.
“All the athletics get to run during the school year, so it’s kind of not equal in my opinion,” said Larocque at last week’s rally.
A survey was open from April 16 to 22 for people to give feedback on the proposed preliminary budget.
Since the end of the survey, the board has conducted final deliberations and will be adopting the 2026/27 preliminary budget at tonight’s board meeting, where a summary of the final public engagement will also be presented.