LYNDHURST, NJ (WCBS 880) - They’re striking up the band in one New Jersey community, and that’s music to the ears of some elementary school kids.

What would a school be like without music?

“Well, it would be soulless,” says Lyndhurst mayor Richard DiLascio.

“We always talk about, you know, education is the part that makes these kids prepared for the future,” DiLascio told WCBS 880 reporter Sean Adams. “But performing arts are the soul of what we deal with.”

It struck a sour note when the mayor heard that the elementary band program might fall under the budget axe. So, he proposed scraping together $100,000 from the township surplus.

“All this money is tight, but the shared service programming has really helped us quite a bit where we stopped a lot of the waste and duplication between the school board and the municipality,” says DiLascio.

He says the band will become a joint venture with the township recreation department.

It will be open to all, just like football and basketball.

There will be a public hearing next week.