On Friday, May 8, the Sobocoband page on Facebook had a posting which ignited a firestorm of responses. The posting was the following; “Attention! SBC Band needs your help! 6th grade band is being cut from the 20-21 class electives!! We need parental voices to be heard! Please reach out to your SBC board members & Admin immediately!!”. The posting also contained more information that there is a proposed plan to have 7th & 8th grade bands meet every other day. The stated concern in the posting is that this would result in students entering high school band with less than sufficient skills to perform well publicly at events such as; Homecoming, Veterans Day, Pumpkin Fest, state and district music festivals, football games, pep assemblies, parades, and more.
The flurry of communications on Facebook resulted in responses from Southern Boone School Board members, candidates and school administrators. Tiffany Lawrence Clevenger, school board candidate, stated “I have not reached out to understand the basis behind this but my initial response would be to continue band for 6th grade. I am a strong advocate of extracurricular activities and believe if they can be offered, we do it and make it possible for the students. If we can start a wrestling program in middle school next year, there is no need for the 6th grade band elective to not be an option. Music is also a common coping skill for children. If elected to the school board my vote would be for it to continue.” Dawn Sapp, current board member and candidate for re-election also stated that, “Please know that we as board members were just informed of this possible change this evening but with the information given so far, I am inclined to vote against this. This program is vital to so many students, it would be a disservice to them to let this happen.”
~ Get the whole story in today’s Journal ~
Facebook Comments