EHT Band Director Layoff Spark Community Outcry

Supporters of the band program at Dr. Joyanne D. Miller Elementary School and music lovers around Egg Harbor Township plan to attend the next Egg Harbor Township School Board meeting to voice their objections to band director Joe Sutton being let go by the school district.

Sutton is one of several teachers being laid off from their jobs in EHT to make up a budget gap.

He is one of two music teachers being let go by the district, I am told, as a casualty of its last-in, first-out layoff policy.

Joe Sutton's Background

From what I have been able to cobble together about Joe Sutton (I was unable to talk with him directly in time for this article), he began playing and loving music as a student in the Egg Harbor Township schools and graduated from Egg Harbor Township High School in 2020.

Joe went on to attend West Chester University as a music education major. He has also been a member of the Atlantic Pops Community Band for a decade.

Missy Denton Schenck, a fellow EHT music teacher, posted on Facebook about how hard it is to see Joe lose this job as band director.

Budget cuts are always hard, but this one is crushing my heart. Joe has the largest band in the district. The kids love band because they love Joe.

I've had the privilege of watching Joe grow up through our district's music program. He is both a product of our department and the future of it. His vision. His inspiration. His heart.

I know that, wherever life takes him next, Joe will do great things. He was born to teach and he IS Band.

By the way, the cover photo on the left is a 2014 photo of Joe as an EHT school student, holding his French horn, and the right-hand photo is of Joe with some of his music students this year at school.

Tuesday's School Board Meeting

No one I've heard from who is voicing displeasure about Joe Sutton losing his job has questioned the importance of making up budget gaps in the school district's budget.

What I did hear is the realization that Joe is a talented teacher who has really connected with his music students. The Miller School music program is the largest feeder of students for the district's middle and high school music programs.

Anyone who has ever played an instrument or been in a school band knows that the elementary school years are the best time to learn the musical basics.

While the school district apparently plans to continue a music program at the Miller School, it will be a part-time program at best without a full-time director.

T-shirts saying, "Support Mr. Sutton & the Miller School Band, #nomoremusiccuts", have been made in advance of Tuesday night's school board meeting at 7 pm on May 12th, at Alder Avenue Middle School.