The Fight for Elementary Music Continues: What Happened on September 9?

On September 9th the Wayland School Committee meeting made one thing clear – with a single exception, the administration and the committee continue to rely on broad assertions, shifting explanations, and a distinct lack of measurable metrics. Here is what you need to know about where things stand following the meeting, and why we must keep demanding accountability:

1. A Single Voice for Transparency - Shoutout to SC Member Jessica Traue: School Committee member Jessica Traue was the only member who genuinely listened to community concerns and pushed back against the administration. Around the 1:13:30 mark of the meeting, Jessica directly challenged the lack of transparency and planning:

• Jessica Asked for Clear Metrics for both the Committee and Community: She pointed out that if this pilot is moving forward, the district must provide total transparency regarding its evaluation rubric. She pressed the administration on what specific percentage change (increase or decrease) will be used to determine if the pilot succeeds or fails.
• No Metrics, No Plan: She warned that the School Committee and administration cannot sit there in April or May guessing whether benchmark goals were met. Her points were met with 30 seconds of complete silence from the rest of the committee and administration. A question we should all be asking: WHY did the SC allow this to move forward without these metrics already in place?
• Process Oversight & District Wide Impact: Jessica noted that when the community doesn’t have control over this change and there are so many variables, the administration should be even more transparent about how these decisions are made. To date, that transparency has been lacking. The Loker community is the only school community that has received direct correspondence from the administration surrounding the pilot, despite the fact that this change affects the entire K - 12 music program. From every elementary school through middle and high school – this reduction jeopardizes 17 consecutive years of national recognition from the NAMM Foundation. At the same time, the administration’s correspondence has relied on broad assertions, shifting goalposts, and internal preferences presented as requirements or mandates. Families and the School Committee deserve transparent, data-driven answers, not generalizations or statements presented as facts. If the district is asking students to sacrifice 40% of their music instruction, it must clearly disclose: What is actually being measured? How were these performance baselines established? What specific, objective criteria will determine whether this pilot succeeds or fails? This is especially critical because the district introduced the new CKLA reading curriculum at the exact same time as the music reduction, mixing two major variables at once. Without clear, predefined metrics, it is extremely difficult to determine which change actually impacted student outcomes.

2. Broad Speak, "Smoke & Mirrors," and Shifting Justifications: While Jessica pressed for actual data, the rest of the committee demonstrated a willingness to accept vague generalizations and face-value claims from the administration:

• Siloed Communication & Smoke and Mirrors: Principal Brian Jones’s updates were sent exclusively to Loker families, completely ignoring the fact that this pilot and change ultimately impacts students, teachers, and music programming across all three elementary schools as well as schools district-wide. The result is a “smoke and mirrors” approach to keep the conversation focused narrowly on Loker while obscuring the broader district-wide implications.
• What is Actually Being Measured? Although the Chair eventually followed up on Jessica’s ask as to what the benchmarks are, the administration's answers became soft and said they would need to get back to her and consult with Principal Brian Jones. While Vice-Chair pointed to vague concepts "comparative coverage of curriculum" and "instrumental skill development," Vice-Chair admitted the pilot itself is "still under evolution this year". Ultimately, this SC has relied on broad statements and misrepresentative framing (like the flawed teacher survey). Real board oversight requires demanding raw data, clear rubrics, and direct answers.
• Admitting a Lack of Transparency: District leadership demonstrated their reluctance to share details by their lack of response and their deflection to Principal Brian Jones rather than provide an actual answer, which as Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent they should have had. This is unacceptable from our administration that is supposed to have complete oversight on this, since Assistant Superintendent Besty Gavron was part of the scheduling committee herself. This was not called out by our SC. District leadership explicitly stated, "I don't want to provide too much information," while simultaneously claiming they value transparency.

• Ignoring Actual Performance Data: The administration has cited literacy and the need to “get through more curriculum” as reasons for reducing elementary instrumental music instruction. However, the district has not presented statistical evidence demonstrating an academic deficiency that requires this tradeoff. In the grades directly affected by the change, Loker students are performing substantially above statewide averages according to DESE MCAS: Grade 4 ELA & Math: 78% of Loker 4th graders met or exceeded ELA expectations, compared with 40% statewide; 82% met or exceeded Math expectations, compared with 43% statewide. Grade 5 ELA, Math & Science: 71% met or exceeded ELA expectations, compared with 38% statewide; 74% met or exceeded Math expectations, compared with 40% statewide; and 78% met or exceeded Science expectations, compared with 46% statewide. District-Wide ELA: Across grades 3–8, 75% of Wayland students met or exceeded ELA expectations, compared with 42% statewide. DESE accountability data also classify Wayland as “Not requiring assistance or intervention” and “Meeting or exceeding targets.” None of this means there is no room for improvement. It does mean the district needs to show the community the evidence behind this particular tradeoff. Where is the statistical evidence demonstrating a specific academic problem that requires reducing elementary instrumental music instruction? What measurable improvement is expected from taking this instructional time? And what objective criteria will determine whether the change actually works? “Getting through more curriculum” is an administrative objective. It is not, by itself, statistical evidence that reducing music instruction is necessary.

• Budget & Staffing Discrepancies: The SC said that this reduction wasn't a budget decision. But if the root cause of a scheduling challenge was inadequate staffing to cover all three elementary schools, families deserve to know why additional staff weren’t hired rather than quietly cutting 40% of Loker's music instruction.
• Penalizing the Majority & Scapegoating Skills Lab: The administration repeatedly claims the schedule change is about "equity" for non-instrument students, but they are using Skills Lab as a scapegoat to justify cutting music. The reality is in the numbers, and the district refuses to provide basic transparency about the actual scope of this issue. How many students actually opt out of instrumental music? How many attend Skills Lab? The reality is that only a small fraction of students opt out, while the overwhelming majority participate in instrumental music. They are also undermining targeted instruction. Skills Lab is not "lost classroom time” but provides valuable, targeted instruction where students master current skills without missing core curriculum. - This is flipping equity on its head. Instead of supporting targeted learning, the administration is using Skills Lab as an excuse to strip 40% of weekly instrumental instruction from the vast majority of students who do participate in music. Punishing the majority is not equity; it is bad scheduling.

3. The Reality on the Ground: First Day of 5th Grade Ensembles: While the administration presents polished narratives on slides, the reality in the classroom tells a very different story:

• Strings Ensemble: On the first day of 5th-grade strings ensemble last Friday, there were not two instructors present as expected. While teacher Kimberley Pisklo did a fantastic job managing the room and giving her best, 5th grade students said the music room was crowded, leaving students struggling for physical space this year, while Band took place in the cafeteria. 

4. Fee Revision Update: The School Committee voted to revise the instrumental music fee from $150 to $90, resulting in a $60 reduction/refund. When the SC asked what the fee pays for, the administration explained that the funds directly offset teacher salaries and are not used for student instruments or instrument maintenance.

The administration also told the SC that there are sufficient funds to cover music teacher salaries. That raises important questions about how music staffing is funded and how teacher salaries will be impacted as the district moves forward with changes to the elementary music program. If the district has sufficient funding to cover these salaries, families deserve transparency about why an instrumental music fee is necessary and how those funds are being allocated. Most importantly, we need to safeguard funding for our music teachers and ensure that changes to the elementary program do not put music staffing or teacher compensation at risk.

For impacted 4th- and 5th-grade families, the district indicated that it will reach out in the coming weeks with options regarding the $60 fee reduction, including the option to donate those funds back to support the music program. Further updates are expected at upcoming School Committee meetings.

5. Shrinking the Space for Parent Dialogue: Despite Loker PTO efforts to create a general parent Q&A earlier this year, there has still been limited space for substantive discussion of the music pilot.

• Limited Space for Conversation: The Loker PTO president recently changed Loker PTO meetings to every other month and capped them at 45 minutes. The Loker PTO and administration attempted to schedule a general parent Q&A this past August, but that event was ultimately canceled and has not been rescheduled. Importantly, the proposed Q&A was intended to address general parent questions, and not specifically the music pilot. The music pilot and the significant community concerns surrounding it were also not included on the latest Loker PTO meeting agenda. The PTO at all schools is intended to serve as a bridge between families and the school community, yet there has still been no dedicated opportunity for Loker families to openly discuss this issue with the Loker PTO and administration.
• The Elephant in the Room: Principal Brian Jones did not mention the music pilot or the growing community concern in his official start-of-school updates at the most recent Loker PTO meeting. Families deserve a meaningful opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback, and understand how decisions affecting their children are being made. 

What’s Next? Keep the Pressure On! The district is attempting to build the plane while flying it. They are taking away 40% of Loker’s instrumental music instruction without a baseline, without defined metrics, with no state mandates, with already strong state DESE performance marks, and without consulting the families directly affected. This change will bleed over into the other elementary schools next year and ultimately impact our middle and high school programs, putting Wayland’s award-winning music program at risk. We will continue to show up, ask the hard questions, and demand that the School Committee exercise true administrative oversight.

Thank you for your continued support. Please share this update with neighbors and stay tuned for our next call to action. If you want to help or get involved, please reach out to me or connect with Wayland CAPA (& follow their Instagram @waylandcapa for Updates - including SC dates). We cannot do this alone, and there are many ways to help, whether you have a lot of time or can only take on one small task.