While developing a budget for the 2024-25 school year, the South Whidbey School District is proposing to cut jazz band for fifth graders.

According to an email sent by Board President Brook Willeford, the band teacher’s position is being reduced from a 1.2 full-time position to a 1.0, allowing the teacher to concentrate their work at the middle and high schools. Band is offered as an elective to students from 5th to 12th grades.

According to information provided by Willeford and Director of Finance Paul Field, removing the program would help the district save $31,000 in instructional costs and costs associated with room and equipment.

The class is taught by Chris Harshman, a music and band teacher who has taught at the district for 20 years. He brought the district’s band players to competitions and events around the country, including the Monterey Jazz Festival in California and the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival in New York City.

In his email, Willeford said most of the cuts for the coming year “took place as far away from programming and students as possible,” but cutting 5th grade band was a necessary decision.

In an interview, Harshman said he understands the need to make cuts, but worries the elimination of the elective for 5th graders will have negative impacts on the program. Fifth grade is a year where students finally get to represent their school, and with more electives to choose from in middle school, he worries students would lose interest in joining band once they get the opportunity to do so.

Some parents came forward to the board at two recent meetings, asking for the program to stay and talking about the positive impact band has had on their children. Some were under the impression that the middle school band program was being cut as well, but Superintendent Jo Moccia reassured that was not the case at the board’s workshop meeting on Wednesday.

Fifth graders will still be taught music through another specialist program, according to Moccia and Willeford.

The district’s revenues and expenditures in 2024-25 are higher than for the previous year in the proposed budget. With the rising cost of insurance, salaries, benefits and utilities, some areas like 5th grade band needed to be cut. This was expected, according to Willeford, and the district has built up a reserve to mitigate this.

The budget hearing and adoption is scheduled for July 24, after which the document will be sent to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction by Aug. 1.