ATTLEBORO - From 2003 through 2004, budget crisis years in the school department, instrumental music in the city's middle schools took a big hit.

School music ensembles that had existed for decades were no longer able to provide a farm system for the high school's band.

The chain reaction is still being felt at the high school, school administrators say, with a continued trend toward declining enrollment.

Nevertheless, a small but enthusiastic combined group of 25 band and chorus members managed to take a first-place award recently at a music festival in New Jersey. Many of those in the group played dual roles because of the small numbers.

While Superintendent Pia Durkin made a priority of returning at least a vestige of instrumental music to the three middle schools, the school department is preparing to rethink and recalibrate school music programs. Carol Martin, the schools' director of teaching and learning excellence, said at last week's school committee meeting that the schools are drafting a planning report to deal with the problem of perpetuating music programs and refilling the pipeline with aspiring drummers, clarinetists and trumpeters.

Funding, however, will be a problem.

While music parents have provided a stalwart source of support in the past, declining numbers has had an impact there as well.

Besides a need for more students, the high school also is looking to replace and refurbish some of its array of band instruments.