While Geater Victoria School District trustees look at cutting music program to save money students at middle and high school across SD61 plan to make some noise Thursday.
They will be staging after-school rallies at intersections near their schools to show support for keeping the programs.
And 100 grade 6 students will don their uniforms to perform outside Central Middle School from 2 to 2:40pm.
Their teacher, Paul Spelt, says the news of pending cuts is hitting many students hard:
"When I told one of the groups the other day I expected the anger and the frustration that I saw, but I didn't really expect kind of the exhausted looks they gave me. Like, just the last year they've been told no so many times, they've had so many things taken away from them that they just looked like they were hardly surporised that one more thing that they loved was going to be taken away. It was really heartbreaking."
Spelt adds that music keeps some kids in school, and provides an important place to relieve stress and feel like they are part of a community:
"It's pretty hard to see the school board suggest such a permanent solution to a temporary problem with COVID pushing down our revenues in the school district."