Dear Editor:
Burnaby students benefit from something that no other district in B.C. can boast: a music program. While other districts may have music in some grades or in some of their schools, Burnaby has consistently provided a quality music program, kindergarten to Grade 7 in all their schools for one-and-a-half hours every week for many years. This is about to change.
The Burnaby school board, faced with a $3.1-million deficit in their operation budget for next year, will have to make some very tough decisions. For the full report of their budget go to sd41.bc.ca/
budgets_policies/budgets.htm.
It is no surprise that our provincial government has created such a deep and devastating shortage for our schools. And there is no end in sight for these budget cuts in the years following.
We can learn from other districts in past years, who have had to make some of the choices that Burnaby might be facing. The Vancouver school district was forced in the not-too-distant past to use library time as non-instructional time for teachers, removing most music teachers and the music programs from schools. This has almost completely decimated the music programs in Vancouver schools; music rooms with full sets of valuable instruments have been converted to other uses. Today, Vancouver schools are poised to lose theirband and string programs, the last remainders of music in the schools.
Burnaby schools pride themselves on their music and arts programs. We cannot let these programs slowly slide out of the reach of our children. Contact your local trustee, and let them know how you feel about Burnaby school music programs. Support what we have and keep these programs in our schools.
For a complete list of Burnaby trustees, see sd41.bc.ca/trustees/index.htm.
Click on the name of your trustee to write an email.
Pam Hetrick, Burnaby teacher
