LANGHAM, Sask. – A Langham high school student is taking action after learning band programs are being phased out across the Prairie Spirit School Division starting next year due to a financial shortfall and decreased participation. Shawna Langer, a Grade 11 student at Walter W. Brown High School, started a petition after hearing about the division’s decision.
Over 1,500 people have signed it so far.
“I think our voices should be heard because I feel that band is important and that people should get the opportunity to be a part of it,” said Langer, outside of her school on Tuesday.
“It’s really important, I think, in people’s lives for them to learn music,” she added.
A memo was sent out by the division Monday, according to Langer, notifying students and parents of the decision. The memo states that the division “will be transitioning from the current instrumental band program to a broader music education program.”
READ MORE: Prairie Spirit School Division delivers ‘bad news’ budget
The memo states the division had noticed a steep drop off in band enrollment as students move through their school years. By high school, only two to six per cent of students take part in the program, according to the memo.
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“In making these changes, the school division hopes to positively impact the music education of a greater number of students,” added Erickson in the statement.
No one from Prairie Spirit was made available for an interview Tuesday.
Langer said she believes phasing out the program will cut back on scholarship opportunities for students and make it difficult for those who wanted to pursue a music based career.
“It’s hard on students that are passionate about it, especially since the only other way you can really take a music class or to learn an instrument is to go to private lessons which are crazy expensive,” she said.
“I think that there are other options and I know that other options have been presented to them,” she added.
The memo states that most high school students in the program will be able to complete their education, however starting this September, “support will no longer be provided for instrument band instruction in Grades 5 – 10.”
The school division has planned informational meetings at the beginning of June in Delisle and Casa Rio to give parents a chance to meet and discuss the transition, according to the memo.
When asked what she believes should happen next, Langer said she hopes the provincial government takes notice of the action taken by the school division.
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