Students, parents and educators are worried about the future of music education in Regina in light of cutbacks announced by the local public school division.

Regina Public Schools (RPS) says it's undertaking a restructuring of its elementary band program for the upcoming school year, with 4.5 of its 14 elementary band teaching positions affected and those teachers being reassigned to other positions.

Mark Haarmann, RPS's director of education, said it comes as his division works through a deficit of more than $2 million. He said RPS is scrambling to finalize its budget, which was delayed by the new Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation contract .

With more money in the contract dedicated to classroom size and complexity, Haarmann said other budget items must be trimmed.

"It'll be a quest

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