{"id":2300442,"date":"2026-02-26T02:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2300442"},"modified":"2026-02-26T02:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T02:18:17","slug":"parents-cautious-about-new-music-program-for-regina-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/parents-cautious-about-new-music-program-for-regina-public-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents cautious about new music program for Regina Public Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"ttsIcon-cIBsl\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"toggletip-tKLKF ttsToggleTip-DSCNQ\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"toggletipInfoButton-yoX4E\" aria-label=\"More information\" aria-controls=\":R89qnl:\" aria-describedby=\":R89qnl:\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" focusable=\"false\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M11 7H13V9H11V7ZM11 11H13V17H11V11ZM12 2C6.48 2 2 6.48 2 12C2 17.52 6.48 22 12 22C17.52 22 22 17.52 22 12C22 6.48 17.52 2 12 2ZM12 20C7.59 20 4 16.41 4 12C4 7.59 7.59 4 12 4C16.41 4 20 7.59 20 12C20 16.41 16.41 20 12 20Z\" fill=\"black\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Starting this fall, all Grade 6 students attending public elementary schools in Regina will automatically be enrolled in a new music program at the site of the former Dieppe School.<\/p>\n<p>Parents who see the benefits of music education have expressed some reservations about the plan.<\/p>\n<p>Public school board chair Adam Hicks said the new music centre for students in Grades 6 to 8 will address some of the shortcomings of the old school band program and expand opportunities for students.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There are still three out of five Grade 6 students that do not get the opportunity right now to explore the beauty of music,&#8221; Hicks said.<\/p>\n<p>Around 60 per cent of students leave the current band program between Grades 6 and 8 under the current &#8216;pull-out&#8217; instructional model, and the model creates academic problems, he said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"imageMedia image full\">\n<div class=\"placeholder\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/91b34793-089d-491d-932b-61b5ace76ad0,1772060519335\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%28414%2C0%2C1135%2C1080%29%3BResize%3D796\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Man in suit speaking with media.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/91b34793-089d-491d-932b-61b5ace76ad0,1772060519335\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%28414%2C0%2C1135%2C1080%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/91b34793-089d-491d-932b-61b5ace76ad0,1772060519335\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%28414%2C0%2C1135%2C1080%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/91b34793-089d-491d-932b-61b5ace76ad0,1772060519335\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%28414%2C0%2C1135%2C1080%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/91b34793-089d-491d-932b-61b5ace76ad0,1772060519335\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%28414%2C0%2C1135%2C1080%29%3B\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.0509259259259258\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption\"> Regina public school board chair Adam Hicks announced the new music program on Feb. 24, 2026.<!-- --> <!-- -->(Will Draper\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Students are pulled out of their regular elementary school classes to attend band. This approach has limited the number of students participating in music education.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The old model disrupted instructional time for core classes such as math and science, and physical spaces to teach music are too small at many schools, he said.<\/p>\n<h2>Parents&#8217; view<\/h2>\n<p>Jessica Tiefenbach has one child who quit the band program in December and another who will be in the new program in the fall.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s really good that Regina Public is putting in an effort to recognize the benefits that music can have for students,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>She would like to see a split system, so students are not missing school for band instruction, but travel to another location is a concern, Tiefenbach said.<\/p>\n<p> &#8220;I don&#8217;t know if they thought about the travel time, especially for those students that live in the east end.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Hannah Wildman said her son is not of school age yet, but the recent decision may encourage her to send him to a Catholic school, even though a public school is much closer to her home.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not that she&#8217;s against musical education.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I would certainly like for my child to experience the band program because it helps so much with emotional growth and social growth,&#8221; Wildman said.<\/p>\n<p>But it&#8217;s unclear what instruments will be taught in the new program, what practice will look like and whether the students will be able to take the instruments home.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think the older option of still having the pull-out method with a sectional and full band twice a week is certainly a better option than this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div><em><strong>WATCH | Future of music education in Regina sounds sombre after school band cutbacks:<\/strong><\/em><span><span class=\"mediaEmbed\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-ui-container  \" data-cy=\"player-placeholder-ui-container\">\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-video-ui\" title=\"Future of music education in Regina sounds sombre after school band cutbacks\" style=\"--aspect-ratio:1.7778;--max-height:800px\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-ui\">\n<div class=\"video-item video-card-overlay\" title=\"Future of music education in Regina sounds sombre after school band cutbacks\">\n<div class=\"thumbnail-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/f876a47f-c405-4fd8-8ec3-89fe98ea2924,1749083814390\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1920%2C1080%29%3BResize%3D620\" srcset=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"thumbnail\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"video-card-overlay-container\">\n<div class=\"video-info-container\">\n<p class=\"video-item-title\">Future of music education in Regina sounds sombre after school band cutbacks<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"media-caption\">Parents, students and fellow educators are concerned about Regina Public Schools&#8217; decision to reassign some of its elementary band teachers to other teaching positions.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Band program cut last year<\/h2>\n<p>The school division announced a restructuring of the elementary school band program in June 2025, which took effect in the fall. Some elementary school band teachers were reassigned to alternate positions.<\/p>\n<p>When the cuts were announced, school division director Mark Haarmann said the change was necessary due to a budget deficit of over $2 million.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"imageMedia image full\">\n<div class=\"placeholder\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/718e2c96-7899-4960-a4f3-7e1176e2f728,1772060382494\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%281467%2C953%2C3047%2C2298%29%3BResize%3D796\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A man in a suit talking inside a brick school building.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/718e2c96-7899-4960-a4f3-7e1176e2f728,1772060382494\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%281467%2C953%2C3047%2C2298%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/718e2c96-7899-4960-a4f3-7e1176e2f728,1772060382494\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%281467%2C953%2C3047%2C2298%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/718e2c96-7899-4960-a4f3-7e1176e2f728,1772060382494\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%281467%2C953%2C3047%2C2298%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/718e2c96-7899-4960-a4f3-7e1176e2f728,1772060382494\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%281467%2C953%2C3047%2C2298%29%3B\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.3259355961705832\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">Regina Public Schools Director Mark Haarmann.<!-- --> <!-- -->(Ethan Williams\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many community members, including band students, educators and parents, started a petition and attended a meeting calling for the changes to be delayed.<\/p>\n<h2>Expert perspective<\/h2>\n<p>John Benham is a consultant who specializes in keeping school bands operating.<\/p>\n<p>Any proposed programs must be include consultation with music teachers and parents, he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They need to have the cooperation of the professionals. I don&#8217;t go to a gym teacher to have my teeth fixed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Benham said the school division&#8217;s old program was the worst-structured one he had ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>The best practice is to start band earlier than Grade 6; otherwise, enrollment drops drastically by high school, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Daily rehearsals are also the best practice, he said, noting the public division&#8217;s previous program had practices only once a week, even for Grade 8 students.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cbc.ca \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Starting this fall, all Grade 6 students attending public elementary schools in Regina will automatically be enrolled in a new music [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2300443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2300442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Parents-cautious-about-new-music-program-for-Regina-Public-Schools.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2300442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2300444,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300442\/revisions\/2300444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2300443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2300442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2300442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2300442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}