ACTION ALERT: SHOW UP TOMORROW (SEPTEMBER 9)

As mentioned in my last update, I have a work conflict tomorrow and cannot speak in person at the School Committee meeting where the music pilot is on the agenda, which means I need your help to step up in my place. The administration will assume we’ve moved on if we don’t pack the room. Being on the agenda is a step in the right direction, but it does not mean the music cuts will be stopped and the 75 minutes of music restored.

I know everyone is tired, busy, and trying to get through the chaos of the start of the new school year. I really do understand that. But this is also exactly how the administration and School Committee avoid being held accountable - and why people become frustrated when they feel like nothing ever changes.

When people don’t show up, there is no pressure to change course. There is no accountability. And it becomes easy to assume that the community has moved on or that the issue simply isn’t important enough to fight for.

That is why showing up tomorrow matters. Even if you can only stay for public comment. Even if you’ve already spoken up before. We need to show them that we are still paying attention and we are not going away. And,  even if you really cannot make it, sending one quick email to the SC & administrators with what you would say if you could attend, matters.

Meeting Details 

• When: Wednesday, September 9, 2026
• Time: Public Comment starts at 6:00 PM | Music Pilot & Fees on the agenda at ~6:15 PM & 7:15 PM
• Where: Wayland Town Building (41 Cochituate Road)
• Goal: Fill every seat, speak during public comment, demand the immediate restoration of the 75-minute music program, and object to the unfair $150 fee structure for 40% less instruction. For a pilot program - where OUR children are the TEST SUBJECTS, no Loker family should have to pay.

ALSO, if you missed the last update – I made many of the points skimmable. The administration recently sent out an email to Loker families attempting to justify cutting 4th & 5th-grade instrumental music. While we respect our administrators, we must challenge these misleading arguments:

Claim: Music isn't "core" content.

Fact: Music drives brain development in EVERY MAJOR AREA of the brain (auditory processing, spatial reasoning, memory+++). It activates core areas of the brain simultaneously and is a KEY reason Wayland students excel and have a reputation of excellence. Reducing music doesn't just cut a class - the administration is undermining the very cognitive foundation has made Wayland students high achievers year after year after year.

Claim: Non-music students "lose 41 hours of instruction" waiting for peers.

Fact: Non-music students are receiving targeted instruction in Skills Lab - not sitting idle. Reinforcing math and literacy concepts isn't "lost time", especially for students struggling with a particular concept; rushing through curriculum pages like the administration wants isn't real educational progress.

Claim: Science and Social Studies are suffering.

Fact: Wayland middle schoolers rank in the top percentiles statewide in Science and Civics – look at the DESE data – its online & public. There is no academic crisis here. Meanwhile, 2nd and 3rd graders are increasingly being put in front of screens for digital MCAS prep instead of hands-on learning, while the administration accepts these demands rather than pushing back at the state level. We should be questioning why we are sacrificing music instruction to create more time for a testing system that is itself driving more screen time for our youngest students. Should 3rd graders really be expected to demonstrate what they know by typing on a computer rather than being given the opportunity to write by hand? What are we sacrificing developmentally when we increasingly replace hands-on learning, handwriting, and real-world experiences with screens?

Claim: A "co-teacher" model makes up for losing 30 minutes a week.

Fact: Extra supervision cannot replace missing instructional time. The administration cut the 30 minutes when students are actually taught how to play their instruments, learn notes and rhythms, develop technique, and practice the skills they need to succeed. Ensemble is NOT a replacement for that instruction. You cannot expect children to successfully play in an ensemble if you have taken away the time they need to learn how to play their instruments. Ensemble is where students use the skills they have been taught. It cannot replace the instruction that teaches them those skills in the first place. Cutting instructional time and then pointing to ensemble as proof that students are still getting music misses the entire point.

Claim: The schedule couldn't fit it.

Fact: A scheduling conflict is an administrative problem to solve, not a valid reason to permanently dismantle a successful student program.

• Read my last update for more information and details+++

WHAT WE ARE ASKING THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO DO

Our elected officials work for the community, not the administration. We need the School Committee to:

• Exercise real oversight and look beyond the administration's misleading presentation.
• Listen to the hundreds of families who signed petitions and showed up.
• Stop treating music as the expendable piece of the puzzle.

Please come speak during public comment and show the board we aren't going away. Let's pack the room!