3-22-2001
Dear School Board Members,
Please allow me to briefly speak for the East Music Dept. It is our opinion that if Jazz Band, Choralaires, and Sterling Strings are placed
in a "0" hour situation along with other opportunities such as yearbook, student forum, school newspaper, A.P. courses, etc., there could be an
enormous number of conflicts which might very well spell the demise of some of these music groups. Central and Denfeld may be in similar
situations.
Thank you for allowing my input and for all the incredible effort you have been expending these past few weeks.
Jerry Jones,
East Orchestras
on behalf of
Bill Tormdonsen and Katie Jablonski, East Bands
Jerry Upton, East Choirs
My Reply
Hi Jerry,
I've been puzzling over something for the past couple days and I'd like your thoughts.
It seems inevitable that we will cut secondary staff with the budget we face whether we have a six or seven hour day. I assume that if we have a seven hour day there would be fewer course offerings and many more study halls because of the lost faculty. Yes, the remaining classes in a six hour day would be longer but......
On the other hand, even though the class periods would be shorter in a seven hour day I suspect that more musical groups could exist. This could make the two-high school arrangement more palatable to a city that has gotten spoiled at all the opportunities its children have to perform in various musical groups.
What say you?
Harry Welty
