Why Did Regina Public Schools Kill Band?
After 16 years working as an elementary school band teacher for Regina Public Schools, my wife quit her job.
The job was impossibly difficult: managing 200+ students, their families, travelling between 9 elementary schools, plus 1 high school, every single week - and all of the complexities that implies: kids with high needs, entitled or neglectful parents, bad administrators, other teachers booking events over band, not having her own desk or workspace - which often made her car her office and frequently included the bonus of classroom teachers (teachers who operate out of their own classroom) not knowing her, being excluded from individual schools' events, paying for school materials out of her own pocket due to lack of budget, always having to manage more and more with less and less.
She always knew the job was hard, but she did it anyway because despite the colossal problem-solving required, she got to spend the remaining 20% of time not devoured by all that nonsense doing the thing she truly loved: teaching kids band.
Late in the school season of 2024/2025, the Regina Public School Board announced significant cuts to the band program, which included removing 4.5 teachers. They ignored petitions, they ignored kids and parents in the program, they ignored studies, they ignored those of us who physically went to the trustees meetings to raise concerns.
Perhaps worst of all, they ignored band teachers – the only professionals in this field. To this day, the trustees have yet to ask band teachers what to do with the band program.
They also demanded that current elementary band teachers send them a list of other skills they have (so that they can reassign them to whatever classroom needs a warm body). But they still gave them the luxury of applying for their own jobs in whatever they had in store next.
Since May 2025, the trustees (elected officials who do not have any specialized knowledge of school band or music - for example, one of whom is simply popular for posting her escapades at Costco) have successfully dismantled elementary school band and reenvisioned it as a general music program at a single location in the city to which kids would be bussed.
Some teachers gave up and moved to other programs. Some applied to move into this new rudimentary music world.
My dear, caring, thoughtful, tenacious, wonderfully musical wife – band teacher for 16 years, junior to only 3 other band teachers in Regina Public – quit, something I encouraged and fully support.
Now Regina gets to watch as fewer kids enter high school band, fewer still make to university, and certainly fewer become band teachers. While this is not the point of the band program (the point is that music education matters, this is one of the damaging effects.
I’d like to extend my congratulations to the Regina Public School Board Trustees. It might have taken another group years of systematic mishandling to destroy something this fundamental. You did it in just one.
Special thanks to Mark Haarmann, Director of Education (and self-appointed “CEO” of Regina Public Schools), who has an actual track record of making sweeping cuts and destroying programs and other shady shit in his former district.
Brandon-Shea Mutala is the only trustee who voted against cutting band and remains the one trustee voice opposed to it.
The rest of this school board should be deeply ashamed.
Regina Public Schools Director of Education:
Mark Haarmann
mark.haarmann@rbe.sk.ca
Regina Public School Board trustees:
Ted Jaleta
ted.jaleta@rbe.sk.ca
306-539-7325
Tracey McMurchy
tracey.mcmurchy@rbe.sk.ca
Adam Hicks (Chairperson)
adam.hicks@rbe.sk.ca
306-527-1240
Cindy Anderson
cindy.anderson@rbe.sk.ca
306-596-5949
Sarah Cummings Truszkowski
sarah.cummingstruszkowski@rbe.sk.ca
306-540-4714
Brandon-Shea Mutala (did not support the cuts)
brandon-shea.mutala@rbe.sk.ca
639-382-9230
Lacey Weekes (Vice-Chairperson)
lacey.weekes@rbe.sk.ca
306-529-1236