The board of education opposed a plan by district staff to cut the band programs in west side schools until a new middle school is built in the area.
The board will discuss the issue at a meeting on May 21 at the New Westminster Secondary School library, where the public can also weigh in on ways to ensure the band will play on.
"One of the points that was raised last night, was that Robson (Elementary), for example, doesn't have any space for a band class now, so this would have been an issue, even if all of the cutbacks hadn't happened, so we're not quite sure what that'll look like, but there will be a band program offered," board chair Michael Ewen said.
The district planned to freeze the program for two years because it was time consuming and costly for the band teacher to travel to the various west side schools. Another issue was that John Robson Elementary didn't have room for the program.
Concerned parents started a Facebook page, called Save Our Elementary School Band Program in New Westminster to oppose the cut.
Local teachers' union president Grant Osborne told The Record teachers were also upset about the cut.
The impact of losing the band program would be felt when the West End students met up with their east-side counterparts in high school, he said.
"Band is when they actually start to use different instruments," Osborne said. "The real concern is that by the time they get to the secondary school level, there is concern about there being some students who will have substantially more experience working with musical instruments."
The school district is dealing with a serious budget crunch. Currently, it owes about $2.8 million from last year, and is projecting a $1million deficit this year. The district is also cutting about 58 positions across the district to offset next year's structural deficit.
Along with the band issue, Osborne is shocked by the "deep cuts," which he said will hurt some of the district's most vulnerable students.
"It's looking pretty bad in terms of how we are going to be supporting at-risk kids and special needs," he said.
Many of the teachers being laid off are resource teachers, who work with classroom teachers to help develop learning strategies for students, he said.
Osborne said he was hearing reports about the need for more resource teachers before the cuts.
"Education is going to look very, very different in New Westminster next year," he said.
The Facebook page can be viewed at www. facebook.com/SaveTheEle mentarySchoolBandProgra mInNewWestminster.
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