The pending retirement of teacher Bruce Whitelaw means the prizewinning music programs at Clearwater’s elementary and secondary schools are under threat.
“There definitely will be a program but it will possibly be changed,” said North Thompson school trustee John Harwood.
“I understand there are 26 kids signed up for the guitar program at Clearwater Secondary School,” he noted.
Enrolment in the high school’s band program for next September, however, was low.
Whether the band program at Raft River Elementary will go ahead is similarly uncertain.
Harwood said he has been working with the principals as well as other school district staff to see if there could be a shared band program with Barriere.
One difficulty is that Barriere Secondary has not had a band program for years.
Many elementary schools in School District 73 also do not have band programs, he added.
Another difficulty is that the secondary schools are on rotating timetables while the elementary schools are not.
There is also the question of whether a qualified band teacher is available.
Harwood noted that the school district cannot dictate to the principals how to staff their schools. With 51 schools, that would lead to chaos, he said.
Getting enough secondary school students to sign up for a band program offered during regular school hours can be a challenge.
“There are only so many hours in a rotation,” Harwood said. “Some want more academics, some want more trades, and that takes the numbers out of mainstream electives.”
Part of the solution might be to have one or more students from the secondary school help out with the band program at Raft River. Those students would then receive credits for their work.
Also uncertain is the future of the string band program being taught by Sandy Crane. Although a highly qualified musician, Crane is not a certified teacher, Harwood said. That meant he had to be supervised by Bruce Whitelaw while he taught violin and cello.
If the string band program at the schools ended there would be no reason why young people could not continue to take instruction from Crane, but on a private basis, said the school trustee.
Possibly the students could receive school credit for what they learn, he said.
This would be similar to the credits given to students at CSS who take courses from TRU that are not taught by a certified teacher.