The Renton School District is cutting its fifth-grade band and orchestra program, announced superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel this week.

The final decision comes after parents and teachers prepared a 900-signature petition and spent about three months working on proposals for cheaper alternatives.

“This has been a tremendously difficult test for all of us. We only had three months,” said teacher Lauren Daugherty.

Though the program only makes up about $200,000 of $5.3 million in cuts this year, the district couldn’t find money to maintain even half the current program.

“We are grossly underfunded,” Heuschel said, addressing the organizers. “We can’t give anything.”

Although lack of money initiated the cancellation of the program, which pulled students from regular classes twice weekly, it was also a part of the school district’s decision to move away from programs that pull students from class.

“We’ve been quagmired by money and the issue of a pullout,” said organizer Ray Kusumi.

The School Board was expected to vote in favor of the 2009-2010 school year budget at its regular meeting last Wednesday, said spokesperson Randy Matheson. The budget totals $130 million.

However, the district gave organizers hope, offering to form a task force that would propose alternative programs for the 2010-2011 school year.

“We need to create a program that is better for all kids,” Heuschel said.

The organizers entered Monday’s meeting hoping the district would compromise by instead reducing the program to once a week, until something could be worked out for the 2010-2011 school year, said Carrie Wong, whose three children participated in fifth-grade band and orchestra.

Although mentioned, the compromise wasn’t discussed at the School Board meeting, said organizer Jerri Wood. “They didn’t follow through with what they said they were going to do at the board meeting,” she said.

Organizers hung hope on a compromise after they heard about $100,000 might be available, but the money wasn’t there.

“I don’t think we were clear,” Matheson said about the money.

The compromise was also still a pullout program, which the district didn’t want.

The group originally offered an alternative program, which pulled students out of regular music classes instead of math and reading, Wong said.

“The way the teachers proposed it seemed easy,” she said.

The group plans to continue to look at this option for the 2010-2011 school year. Organizers at Monday’s meeting volunteered to join the task force.

Discussion has brought several other options to the table, including an ill-favored, after-school program, which many organizers say would keep some kids from being able to participate.

“I think the next step is to get the music teachers together,” said Susan Mather, chief academic officer for elementary schools.

In addition to offering a program that doesn’t take students away from normal classes, the task force will likely need to find funding for a new band and orchestra program.

This is the fourth year the district has reduced its budget, but it’s the first it had to make program cuts, Matheson said. “We’ve gotten to the point in our budget where something has to give.”

Next year the district is expecting to cut as much if not more, he said. “That’s going to take some pretty creative work.”