Parents ask Regina school board trustees to delay band program cuts
Trustees say they'll consider parents' request
Parents of students in Regina Public Schools's (RPS) elementary band program say they're not asking for recently announced cuts to be reversed, but would like them to be delayed.
A delegation of parents spoke with school board trustees at a standing-room-only meeting at the division's board office Tuesday. The parents say they've hired a consultant to gather data about the program, which serves students in Grades 6 though 8. They want the board to put off reassigning teachers until the consultant has presented his findings.
RPS says it plans to reassign about a third of its elementary band teachers to new positions this fall. It comes as the division faces a $2.65-million deficit.
The division says the move is the result of government funding not keeping up with inflation. RPS director of education Mark Haarmann previously told CBC News the new contract between teachers and the government means more money has to be given to fund classroom complexity clauses.
The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation says new money from the government, plus the addition of 515 new teaching positions, are being provided for that.
Board welcomes consultant's report
Several trustees told the delegation that their own children are in, or have been in, band.
But they say technical papers for the division's upcoming budget were substantially delayed by the new teachers' contract, which put pressure on RPS to come up with a budget in a short amount of time.
Trustee Brandon-Shea Mutala said he's heard from many of his constituents about the cuts.
"Every email that's came across my desk, I've read," Mutala said.
He said the cuts to band make up about $450,000 of the $2.65-million shortfall.
"The original number that was proposed to us was steeper for cuts," he said.
"When we sat down and we got our first numbers for the budget as a board, we sent them back and said we have to do better. So from the beginning we have been fighting."
Board chair Adam Hicks reiterated elementary band is just one area facing cuts this coming year.
"In eight of the nine years I've been on this board, we've had to look at cuts every single year," said Hicks. "I wish and I hope for one year where we could actually talk about dreaming a little bit."
Hicks said he welcomes the consultant's review and hopes to follow up with the parents before the board meets again on June 24 to vote on the next school year's budget.
Christina Carlson, president of Sheldon Williams Area Music Parents, said she was grateful to hear the trustees' personal connection to band.
"I think we have a little bit of room to grow with our alignment [of] how to get the best outcome over the next couple of weeks," Carlson said.
"I'm excited that they're not making any final decisions right this moment and we have a bit of opportunity to work together, potentially with some more collaboration."
Solutions are possible, consultant says
John Benham is the consultant the parents have hired to review RPS's elementary band program.
Benham, who lives in Minneapolis, has spent the past four decades working with school divisions around the world to prevent cuts to music education.
He said he'll analyze how many teachers and students are in RPS's program and how economically viable it is. A summary of his findings will be presented at a meeting on Saturday, which will list the items that should be studied to improve the program.
Benham said RPS's claims of a budget shortfall and band teachers needed elsewhere to satisfy classroom complexity requirements don't add up.
"I have a hard time accepting this as a financial issue," Benham said. "They're stating … nobody's going to lose their job. Well if they're not going to lose their job, how are they going to save any money?"
One solution, Benham said, could be to add band to existing elementary arts education classes, which the Ministry of Education provides as a curriculum option.
"So the answer's right there," he said. "It's just we need to do something in this [school] district to facilitate that."
Benham spoke with a group of RPS elementary band teachers earlier in the week. He said that while the division has been co-operative in providing data to him, some teachers were fearful of the meeting.
"They had been told 'Do not share the fact that you're being cut with anybody,'" he said. "The idea of intimidation and concealing of relevant information from the teachers and or the public to me is very questionable."
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