It’s too late to send a slew of letters or stage a calling campaign.

So, with precious little time to get organized before Monday night’s Lawrence school board meeting, a group of about 20 parents, boosters, band directors and other concerned residents who call themselves the Coalition Against Dropping Sixth-Grade Band and Orchestra met Saturday afternoon to devise a plan to keep the instrumental program off the budget chopping block.

Sue Miller, left, and Cindy Monshizadeh listen as Anne Schulman, center, discusses the possible elimination of sixth-grade band and orchestra in the Lawrence school district. About 25 people attended a meeting Saturday at Hume Music, 711 W. 23rd St., to organize opposition against the proposed cuts.

The board is expected to decide Monday whether to eliminate the program to save $245,000. The equivalent of six jobs would be lost. All told, the board plans to cut $4 million from the budget and raise $1 million in revenue to balance the budget and have money left over to raise teacher salaries, even if the 2002 Legislature slices appropriations to public schools.

“The arts are always the first to be targeted, and it’s very frustrating for all of us,” said Julie Jasperson, whose fifth-grade son, Jeff, attends Deerfield School and was looking forward to playing the drums next year. “It seems like music is always one of the first to go. All of this advocacy data will tell you children who participate in it will do well.”

Bob Berheide, district manager for Selmer Music Co., urged coalition members to provide the board with statistics about how children involved in music perform better in school and later in life.

“It’s really important how early we start with music education,” he said.

If statistics don’t sway board members to keep the sixth-grade program intact, the coalition hopes testimonials will.

Lawrence resident Dan Chisham, director of bands at Raymore-Peculiar High School in Missouri, and his wife, Kristin, who teaches at Veritas Christian Academy, are expecting a baby soon. With three options of where to send their child to school, the couple always figured Lawrence would be the place.

“We would like to send her to Lawrence Public Schools because they’re known statewide for the quality of their music program,” Dan Chisham said. But if the board axes sixth-grade instrumental music, the Chisham’s said they might be forced to reconsider.

Eighty-five percent of Lawrence sixth-graders are participating in instrumental music this year 478 in band and 225 in orchestra. Making that many students wait until junior high to learn how to play an instrument would put impossible pressure on those band directors, said Anne Schulman, co-chairwoman of Lawrence High Band Parents.

“We think the impact is going to be far greater on the secondary band programs than on the elementary level,” she said.

Patrick Kelly, band director at West Junior High, said the cut could diminish the quality of Lawrence’s junior high and high school bands.

“We have the premier instrumental music department in the state of Kansas,” he said. “We take a group to KMEA every year. If they make this decision, it will make a huge difference in the success of the music program.”