Groton -- Parents have collected more than 240 signatures on two separate petitions asking the Board of Education to restore a program that teaches third-graders how to play string instruments.

Eight parents spoke at the school board meeting Monday, urging the board to keep the program, which enrolls 160 third-grade students. Districtwide, in all grades, the program enrolls 449, said Sean McKenna, assistant superintendent for curriculum. Groton offers strings in third through 12th grade, and in second grade at Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School.

The board cut third-grade strings to save an estimated $90,000.

"I would implore you to take a second look at this," said Mark McCormick, whose eighth-grader plays violin and second-grader would start the program in the fall. "There is a real opportunity to make this right."

But Interim Superintendent John Ramos said the board cut the program after a thoughtful and open process, and bringing it back would create scheduling problems.

Ramos said he also asked principals not once, but four times, whether it was needed and they said no. Ramos said the cut would remain unless the school board decided otherwise.

"I don't want people to leave here with this feeling that they're not being listened to. They are . ... But at some point, decisions have to be made," Ramos said. He said cuts are being felt districtwide.

School Board Chairwoman Kirsten Hoyt said the board must stick to its vote. Board Vice Chairwoman Beth Gianacoplos agreed.

"It's important that we get things calmed down in the district and get ready for September," she said.

But Brett Terry, one of the parents, said after the meeting he found Ramos' response infuriating. Terry said schedules are often changed and the interim superintendent leaves at the end of the month.

"That's just a tactic to discourage discussion," Terry said.

Lynn McCormick said she's upset because a high school orchestra teacher is leaving Groton to go to another district, so Groton should have the money to reinstate the program, yet she said it will not.

Ramos said the two have nothing to do with one another. McKenna said the decision to eliminate third grade strings was a programmatic one as well as a financial one. He said the district plans to move an elementary teacher part-time to the high school to replace the teacher who is leaving and to boost the strings program there. McKenna also said school populations are changing due to redistricting and music teachers may have to be redistributed.

Terry said he is upset that Groton invested in buying string instruments for students, some of whom are from low-income families and cannot afford to rent them, and some instruments will now sit in their cases unused.

School Board member Rita Volkmann asked her colleagues to discuss the cut at its next Committee of the Whole meeting, but the board did not put in on the schedule. School Board member Chaz Zezulka said he fears the strings program, like those cut in earlier years such as the gifted and talented program, will be gone forever once it's eliminated.

"Somebody said we own these instruments and now they're going to sit silent? If that's true, that really bothers me," Zezulka said.

The argument for third grade strings is that the program has worked well, and that if students wait until later grades to start instruction they'll be discouraged and the instrumental programs in later grades will suffer.

Other parents said a third-grade strings program is considered the mark of a high-performing school district, and losing it represents a decline in the offerings to students.

Parent Molly Ziegler said the point of teaching strings is not to have students perform at Carnegie Hall, just as football players may not end up in the Super Bowl and writers may not win Pulitzer Prizes.

She said the strings program provides an outlet for children with musical skills, allows others to discover music and improves academic skills in areas such as math.

"It helps with their confidence, with gaining a skill and with learning to fail and then try again," she said. "So it's just not about learning the instrument. It's the process."d.straszheim@theday.com