Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Elementary band program safe for another year, but future uncertain

Linda Jenson’s weekend didn’t go as planned.

The Westview Secondary music teacher had wanted to spend her Easter enjoying the holiday with her family. But on the Thursday before, she got notice from SD42 that the district’s elementary band program (that she and several other teachers run) was on the chopping block in next year’s budget.

“This was a curveball,” said Jenson. “Like, what are we going to do? We had, literally — I feel like we had four days to get this together.” 

The program is for Grade 5-7 students and is offered at every elementary school in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. It costs $81,689 (or 62.5 percent of a full-time teacher’s salary) a year to run (parents must provide instruments for their children). Since SD42 is facing structural deficits — which is not permitted under board policy — they mulled cutting the band program as one way to help balance the budget.

Jenson and five other music teachers all spend one block teaching band. (In addition to elementary band, Jenson also teaches junior concert band, senior concert band, jazz band, and a music rotation for grade eights).

While she is paid to teach 30 students band each year, Jenson ends up teaching between 45 and 90 students — and she says other high school music teachers do the same. “They’re getting a bargain, right?”

Jenson and the other teachers had to submit a proposal against the funding cuts by April 21 (coincidentally Easter Monday), as the SD42 board meeting was on Wednesday. 

The six music teachers organized over the long weekend, asking parents of their students to get involved.

Nicole Canning has two kids that attend Hammond Elementary. Her daughter, who’s in grade five, currently attends the Westview music program that Jenson teaches, playing clarinet this year and planning to play trumpet next year. Her son, in grade three, also wants to join the program once he’s old enough. Canning herself attended it when she was in elementary school. 

She says it helped her and other students develop important skills, like responsibility, time management, and memorization. 

“Right away, I looked at that document and found out, and I thought,’ I definitely need to do everything I can in the next few days and for the budget meeting to fight this because of how wrong I feel that cutting the program is,” Canning said.

They encouraged local residents to complete a feedback survey on SD42’s proposed budget (asking them to vote ‘strongly do not support’ cutting the elementary band program). 

Before the SD42 board meeting on April 23 (less than a week after they found out the program could be cut) they organized an hour-long demonstration outside of Thomas Haney Secondary. About 150 concerned residents attended, students brought their instruments and made signs, and older students played their instruments. 

A number of people, including Canning and Jenson, also presented at the board meeting.

It worked. On April 30, the school board voted on the following year’s budget. And the day prior to the meeting, the board released a document that showed they would extend the program for one additional year with surplus from last year’s budget, in response to public feedback.

“So, we bought ourselves some time to find the solution, but we’re not there yet, because we don’t have an ongoing plan yet,” said Canning.

In an email to The Ridge, SD42 shared a section from their budget process public engagement summary document.

“Over the course of the 2025/26 year, the district will work collaboratively with the BC Music Educators’ Association and program teachers to examine program structures and identify approaches for the band program to operate in a cost-neutral manner beyond 2025/26.”

Both Jenson and Canning expressed concern about the ‘cost neutral’ phrase.

Jenson said she isn’t sure what that means. “How do we do that? Because everything costs money.”

 “I don’t think teaching for free is an option,” she said.

Canning said she thinks the school district should invest money into students music education. 

“It’s in the B.C. curriculum. Our students deserve to have music education. It’s their right,” said Canning.

Since her kids’ elementary school doesn’t have any music teachers, the students wouldn’t get any music education if not for the elementary music band program.

Why is musical education important?

Stacey Sinclair, the executive director for the Coalition for Music Education in Canada, says that music is an important component of a child’s development. 

“Socially, emotionally and cognitively, music education contributes to the development of our students,” she said. “It’s important as the other curriculum, while music education is always kind of on the chopping block.” 

Sinclair said it helps with things like creativity, expression, resilience, perseverance, fine motor skills, and collaboration.

Jenson, who’s been a teacher for 29 years, sees these benefits directly in her students.

“They’re learning so much more than just the music on the page and where to put their fingers and make a sound. They’re learning teamwork. They’re learning cooperation, collaboration. They’re learning coping skills, like how to interact with other people that don’t necessarily think the same way they do. There’s just so much going on in the classroom other than music,” she said.

While she feels relief the program will live to see another year, she isn’t sure what the future holds.

“As I said to my colleagues, I said, ‘We won today’s battle, but the war continues.’ We need to gather the troops and figure out a plan on how we’re going to work with the board and and the superintendent to keep this program funded moving forward.”