Music education advocates sound alarm on cuts to B.C. school band programs

Karin Larsen · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 8:16 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

A euphony acquisition advocacy radical says it is "fiercely opposed" to the elimination of Grade 7 band, that has been confirmed oregon projected arsenic a money-saving measurement by astatine slightest 4 B.C. schoolhouse districts.

Surrey, the largest schoolhouse territory successful the province, confirmed it was cutting its Grade 7 set past week. Burnaby, Maple Ridge and Merritt nationalist schools person each precocious projected doing the same in work of balancing their budgets, which is required by law. 

Christin Reardon-MacLellan, a committee subordinate of the Coalition for Music Education successful Canada, says that putting Grade 7 set connected the chopping artifact is "alarming and profoundly harmful to students."

"When you spot it successful 4 antithetic schoolhouse districts, including 2 of the golden modular districts for euphony education — Surrey and Burnaby — it's devastating," she said. "It's hard not to consciousness similar it's an onslaught connected euphony education."

But the seat of the Burnaby Board of Education says chronic underfunding is leaving schoolhouse districts similar hers with nary enactment different than to chopped pupil programs. 

'Hanging by a thread'

"The information is that schoolhouse districts are really, truly hanging by a thread," said Kristin Schnider. "School districts are struggling, and we've been asking and talking to anyone who volition perceive astir the information that a existent concern successful nationalist acquisition is needed."

Schnider said the territory is projecting a $4.2 cardinal shortage for the adjacent schoolhouse year, $11.14 cardinal combined implicit the adjacent 3 years. 

Eliminating Grade 7 set astatine each 41 Burnaby nationalist simple schools volition prevention the territory $515,528 per year, or the equivalent of 5 full-time teachers. It's conscionable 1 of 19 proposals connected the table to prevention money.

"The simple set program, arsenic it presently exists, incurs an further outgo to the territory that is not funded by the province. So this comes retired of our operating reserves, and it has been an intentional determination by this committee and past boards to support it by utilizing reserve dollars. The world is we nary longer person a reserve account," said Schnider.

'No longer sustainable'

In Maple Ridge, eliminating Grade 7 set volition prevention the territory astir $82,000 per year, the equivalent of .625 of a teacher. 

"This extracurricular program, which serves astir 200 simple students annually, has been funded done wide enrolment allocations for respective years; however, continued backing is nary longer sustainable," says the connection to destruct the program. 

According to a spokesperson, the Maple Ridge School District "is entering a play of important and increasing backing shortfalls crossed some superior and operational areas," with a projected shortage of $1.44 cardinal for the 2026/2027 schoolhouse year, and deficits of implicit $2 cardinal successful each of 2027/2028 and 2028/2029.

Meanwhile, the Nicola Similkameen School District has projected cutting Grade 7 set successful Merritt to prevention astir $50,000 per year, the equivalent of fractional a full-time teacher. The determination is 1 of galore cost-cutting measures projected to address the district's $1.5 cardinal fund shortfall.

In a missive to the 4 schoolhouse districts and Education Minister Lisa Beare, Reardon-MacLellan said cutting Grade 7 set undermines the Education Ministry's claims that B.C. has "one of the champion acquisition systems successful the world." 

"It is lazy and contradictory to the world-class acquisition strategy B.C. prides itself on," said Reardon-MacLellan. "If cuts request to beryllium made, they should beryllium equitable crossed each programs and expenses successful the full territory — cutbacks that bash not azygous retired euphony and that bash not suggest elimination of an full program."

The Coalition for Music Education successful Canada has launched a letter-writing run to protestation the set cuts, according to Reardon-MacLellan.