Wayne parents and students urge board to reverse cuts to strings program and staff amid layoff wave

Dozens of students, parents and music educators appealed to the Wayne Township Board of Education at its May 15 meeting to halt or reverse planned cuts to the district strings program and recent staff reductions, saying the moves would deprive children of music instruction and key counseling services.

Jason Lewitz, a parent and supervisor of performing arts in Clifton Public Schools, told the board the district has “quietly dismantled” the strings program and said the district’s characterization that strings “only serves 2% of the population” lacked context. Lewitz said elementary strings enroll about 140 students across nine schools, middle‑school instruction is under‑resourced, and there is currently no clear high‑school strings pathway. “That figure lacks context,” he said, urging the board to reconsider staffing choices and investment.

Multiple students offered emotional testimony. Fifth‑grader Henry Pas told trustees he plays violin and pleaded, “Please don’t take away the strings program,” adding that music teaches discipline and creativity. Seventh‑grader Adam Gora recalled teachers who spent extra time and money on students and warned that cutting strings would remove a route to ensemble playing for students who cannot afford private lessons.

Nancy Classen, identifying herself as a music educator and member of a state music‑educators board, urged the board to preserve strings and offered to help compile grant opportunities; she said she had a list of 12 grants that might support the program. Ursula Gura, a parent and public‑school educator, told trustees she had been told by the assistant superintendent that strings “only serves 2%” of students and countered that the program serves roughly 150 students districtwide and costs approximately $250,000 — a budgetary figure she compared to one or two central‑office positions.

Speakers connected the program cuts and staff reductions to the district’s larger budget shortfall. Several parents and union representatives criticized the district’s process for reductions in force (RIFs) and nonrenewals. Lori Cron, the New Jersey Education Association representative for Wayne employees, said the April notices upended many families and requested Donaldson hearings for affected staff; she warned that removing guidance counselors and student‑support staff would leave students without critical help.

Students and parents also spoke on behalf of guidance counselor Andrew Imperator at Wayne Valley High School. Multiple speakers, including representatives from William Paterson University, described Imperator’s work on dual enrollment and counseling and urged the board to reinstate or reconsider his removal. Jessica Capidana, a Wayne Valley senior, said Imperator “sat with me and skipped his lunch break just to hear what I had to say” after a personal tragedy and urged the board to keep him.

Board members acknowledged the testimony and said the district faces severe financial pressure. Several trustees said some staffing reductions resulted from the failure of a November referendum and that the board is pursuing grants and other possibilities but that some positions eliminated in a RIF are unlikely to return without new revenue. The board also noted it had placed item V8 (a shared‑services agreement) on the agenda but withdrew it pending further negotiation with the township over contract language.

The public comment period produced few concrete commitments beyond promises to “look into” grants and to pursue every option; board members repeatedly asked the public for grant leads and volunteer assistance. The meeting recessed to executive session on personnel and legal matters and later returned to approve the meeting agenda by roll call.

What happens next: trustees said they would continue exploring grant and budget alternatives but cautioned that some reductions are final unless new funding is secured. Several speakers requested formal hearings for affected staff and asked the board to schedule specific follow‑up on the strings program; the board did not adopt a formal reversal at the meeting.