Parent Coalition Rallies To Save Band And Orchestra Programs

Woodbury MN

18 February, 2021

9:55 PM

Description

WOODBURY, MN—Parents and community members from South Washington County Schools (District 833) braved the Minnesota weather Thursday night as they rallied outside the district's service center before the monthly school board meeting. At January's school board meeting, it was announced that the school board planned to cut elementary band and orchestra programs. Parents and band boosters from across the district banded together and formed a coalition to try and convince the school board to reverse their decision. The group commissioned John Benham, a national expert on saving music programs, to conduct a study of the district to see how cutting elementary band and orchestra would affect the district. Benham's study found that cutting elementary school band and orchestra would have a detrimental effect on the number of students enrolled in middle and high school band and orchestra programs, and that this plan would also cost the district more money in the long run. The coalition rallied peacefully Thursday with signs saying things such as "Read the Report" and "Save Music". The goal was for school board members to read the signs as they walked into the building for their meeting, where members of the coalition would be speaking. Jen Sommerness, president of Park High School's Band Boosters, spoke during the meeting's public comment section on behalf of the coalition, highlighting key statistics of Benham's study. "I think that the congregation of people that showed up this evening is going to show the school board that this is something that they have to reconsider," she said. "I'm hopeful." Sommerness said that District 833 has recently increased its presence in instrumental music statewide. If numbers decrease in middle and high school band and orchestra, that presence will fade. "I think they will see right away with the decline in enrollment that they will lose the overall effect they want to have as a district being represented well in Minnesota," she said. "I don't think they'll have any choice but to reconsider…" Sommerness said that it is important for the community to realize they have a voice. "It is important to let the board members know that they are the community's representatives, so if we are not seeing what we want to happen in the schools it must be brought to the board," she said. Sommerness said the one good thing that came from the situation is that it has brought the district's schools together. "We are actually coming together like a family, like a band is," she said. "I've never worked the other band booster organizations before, and from here going forward we will have a system in place so we can't be blindsided by this anymore. We will be able to move forward and be in constant contact with all the other bands and music programs in the district from here on." The coalition hopes that the decision to cut elementary band and orchestra will be discussed and reversed at the next school board meeting.