School music programs may be saved by extra funding

Elementary school music programs in the Vancouver School District may have been saved from budget cuts after the B.C. Ministry of Education announced it will give the board an additional $585,000 in holdback funding.

At the school board meeting on Tuesday, chair Patti Bacchus also put forward a proposal to protect music programs from cuts for a year, to allow members of the community to figure out a way to come up with an alternative funding model for the programs.

The motion came after dozens of students in the program turned out before the meeting to play their instruments in protest of the possible cuts.

However the VSB will still need to trim $11.65 million from the budget, and is considering several options including cutting athletic coordinators and shortening the school year with a week-long break in November.