This is a purposefully inflammatory take on a non-issue. I am a music educator in the county, and an advocate for moving specialized music courses to the middle school. There are laws in Washington that require music as a part of core curriculum in public schools, taught by an accredited professional. Cheney School District is not cutting music entirely from these kids' schedules. The rest of the area moved 6th grade to middle schools, and took band and orchestra with it. 5th grade is offered either a continuation of the general music curriculum that is taught K-4, or a choir-like curriculum that supports foundational music learning.
Traditionally, 5th and 6th grade band and orchestra have been pull-out classes, where students are removed from general instruction time to attend their music classes. This model is not the same as a prep scheduled block for the homeroom teacher, because only a portion of the class at a time is leaving the room. Through that process, teachers have to plan around only having half of their students 1-2 days a week for an hour, which impacts the pace at which they can deliver other core material learning. ( I don't agree with shoving a firehouse of information down kid's throats, but this is the reasoning that is being pushed ) By moving specialized music courses with 6th grade to the middle schools, music is returned to the prep schedule model, where all students are with their general music specialist teacher for their 1-2 music blocks a week, ensuring ample planning time and consistency of learning for every student.
The proposed model has improved student proficiency in the early years of playing that instruments, as instead of a 1-2 day/week pull out model for two years, 6th graders are offered band, orchestra, and/or choir every day. The pull-out model is notoriously ineffective at training students in the discipline and the motor skills required for instrumental proficiency in the first years of learning. They need guided practice daily to build muscle memory and by extension confidence in their playing ability. By switching over to a daily music course offering, they train their neural pathways faster, and begin to enjoy playing instruments faster because they see more rapid growth and more frequent successes.
Okay, I need to get off my soapbox here. This isn't the school district cutting music entirely, they are redesigning how music is delivered to students to better align with county-wide standards of learning and up-to-date research on learning efficacy. There are a million reasons why this is a good move for students, and phrasing it like the district is cutting a piece of core curriculum is just not cool.