Burnaby music teachers are circling the wagons early to protect the school district’s music program.
The school district won’t find out how much money it’s getting from the province for next year until mid-March, but a delegation of music educators has already appealed to the board to preserve the district’s music programs and staffing levels.
“We all hope in this time of fiscal constraint, that the board chooses to continue to support and maintain music staffing at its current levels, to continue to have certified music educators in every school and to allow our learners to have as much time in the music class as they do currently,” Burnaby Music Educators Association chair and Gilmore Elementary music teacher Ryan Phelps told trustees at a school board meeting Tuesday.
During early budget planning last year, the district proposed covering part of a projected $3.1 million shortfall by cutting almost nine non-enrolling teaching positions, which include music teachers, librarians and resource teachers.
Teachers and parents rallied around the music program, however, and the district eventually made cuts elsewhere.
Now, as the district gets ready to hammer out next year’s budget, staff from the board office have already been in touch with the music educators association, and the group is worried the district is once again looking for places to cut, Phelps told the NOW.
“That’s sort of what precipitated a bit of our presentation to the board on Tuesday,” Phelps said. “We’ve been so lucky in Burnaby that the board has been able to continue to support us for so long, and the worry that we do have is that things might start to change and go another direction.”
Burnaby is among only a few districts in the province to have a certified music teacher and dedicated music room in every school and provide all kindergarten-to-Grade 7 students between 90 to 100 minutes of music instruction every week.
The district also supports a number of honour ensembles and festivals.
That's all as it should be, according to music teachers.
Phelps's appeal to the board emphasized music’s unique ability to engage all students, including English language learners and students with exceptional needs.
“I really think that it engages students right from the very beginning,” Phelps said.
Board members were sympathetic.
Trustee Katrina Chen said music was her first avenue to friendship when she came to Canada as a 17-year-old.
“I spoke very limited English,” she said at the meeting, “but I was able to make friends through my band classes and also my choir classes. I was able to use music to communicate with my fellow classmates, so we all know the importance of music.”
Chair Ron Burton said the board would “keep the music program in mind” as it deliberated over the budget in coming months.
He told the NOW the board is proud of the program and has tried to keep it intact in the past by finding administrative savings, but there’s no guarantee deeper cuts won’t be needed for next year.
“We can’t say definitively we won’t touch it,” he said.
