Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
Who hasn’t felt their chest tighten when the strains of a John Philip Sousa march bubbles up along a parade route? Grins as big as Christmas, the Fourth of July and birthday cakes forever brighten faces as the high school band confidently strides by in precision formation, holding flutes and piccolos just so, balancing snare drums; the brass of trumpets, French horns, tubas and trombones gleaming.
This quintessential moment may be lost in Fallbrook if the Fallbrook Union High School band program continues to decline. What was once a vital, energetic musical option for students at FUHS has seen its band member numbers plummet alarmingly since 2002 when 30 incoming ninth-graders became band members. All but three of the original group, now in 12th grade, have dropped out.
Phil Leonelli, who has been a music teacher for 27 years and is president of the FUHS Band Boosters, says the falloff in band enrollment is affecting the district’s financial ability to hire a fulltime band director. At present, the offer is for a “three-fifths position” that pays $27,000. This means whoever is hired will be teaching other subjects, thereby reducing the time available for the extracurricular activities needed to build a band program. While this is true, says District Superintendent Tom Anthony, if band enrollment grows, warranting a fulltime position, it will be restored. Meanwhile, the incoming band director will teach three periods of band and other classes.
Lack of feeder programs
contribute to decline
Several factors have contributed to the drop in band enrollment, Leonelli says. One is the lack of a “feeder” program. Since Fallbrook and Bonsall have K through 8 school districts, the customary continuity of a music program that would be available in a K through 12 district is nonexistent. “In the late 1980s, [Fallbrook] actually cut the elementary music program. We had seven music teachers here and it was cut back to one music teacher at the junior high school,” Leonelli recalls.
Without a natural movement of students from elementary school band programs through to high school, interest wanes. Steve Boyle, assistant superintendent for the Escondido High School District, agrees. Boyle says a strong feeder program delivers motivated kids directly to a high school program. He is a former assistant principal and principal of Escondido High School who served in those positions for ten years.
Stacey Sharpe, the music director at Sullivan Middle School, also agrees. But not having structured feeder programs from elementary through high school doesn’t have to mean kids lose interest in band activities. Sharpe believes parents want their kids exposed to creative activities. She says, “Band is as important as sports for performance. Kids need an opportunity to perform.” Sharpe is passionate about music for children. She is a third-generation musician whose grandfather and uncle were studio musicians for MGM and toured with Bob Hope. Her father plays at the La Jolla Playhouse and Starlight Theater. Both Sullivan Middle School and Potter Junior High School have dynamic band programs.
Structured feeder programs may not exist in Fallbrook, but the future isn’t all that bleak.
Visual and performing arts must be offered in California public schools according to the law; however, stretching budgets to fund them means administrators must make hard choices. Vocal instruction has been offered in Fallbrook Street School for seven years, says Principal Diane McClelland, but next school year the program is expanding. “We’ve all decided it’s a priority, so all schools are contributing funding for vocal K through 3 and instrumental for 4, 5 and 6 for at least part of the year.” Moreover, funding performing arts is part of the Governor’s May Revise budget which states: “An increase of $66 million in Proposition 98 funding to expand the Arts and Music Block Grant proposed in the Governor’s 2006-2007 budget, for a total of $166 million. This increase will allow for expansion of the block grant to high schools and increases the per-student rate to $25. Funds must be used to support standards-aligned instruction including hiring additional staff; purchasing materials, books, supplies, and equipment; and staff development.” A second budget proposal calls for $250 million in one-time Proposition 98 grant funding for the purchase of art and music equipment and supplies. These grants will permit K through 12 schools to restore and expand the infrastructure of their art and music programs.
High school counselors
play important role
Leonelli believes counseling students who play in middle school bands to sign up for band in high school could bridge the gap. He also suggests parents whose children played in middle school bands urge their children to continue, even when the children may waver. Leonelli faced this situation when his son considering dropping band when he graduated from Potter Junior High School. His son is now a member of the FUHS band. Kasey Jonesrebandt, the music director at Potter Junior High School, says it’s not a lack of feeder programs but high school counseling that diverts ninth-graders from band. “They are told they need a science and foreign language to get into a four-year college, and that leaves no time for band,” Jonesrebandt says. She further faults No Child Left Behind legislation, which for some students means three periods of English and two periods of math and prevents four years of music. It’s a “ripple effect from the top down,” she says, and as a result “[students] have their hands full.”
Jonesrebandt cites the case of a former Potter student, now a college sophomore, who had to take six music classes her 12th grade year at FUHS to accomplish her musical career goals for college entry. Jonesrebandt has been the music director at Potter Junior High School for 11 years. Boyle disagrees. Scheduling issues, especially with Advanced Placement (AP) classes, “can be sticking points but can be worked out. It’s always an individual decision,” he says. Boyle has an ally in Ken Brower, a guidance counselor at FUHS who says students are offered scheduling choices from which to choose. For example, a rubric designed to meet minimum college entrance requirements offers marching band or PE in both ninth and 10th grade, then band alone in the 11th and 12th grades. Another rubric used for the most demanding college entrance requirements — a likely choice for a student seriously considering music as a profession — offers marching band the first two years without PE and band the second two years. Brower says few ninth-graders need to take triple English and double math. “We have maybe 60 students out of 600 incoming ninth-graders who may have deficits,” he says.
Dynamic band director contributes most to band success
Another, and perhaps the most important reason, is the transitory nature of band directors. They change jobs often. For example, just days before August band rehearsals in 2005, the band director at FUHS resigned his position to take an assistant band director job in Orange County. This event left Fallbrook district administrators scrambling to fill the opening. In the opinion of some Band Booster members, the individual hired did not live up to the expectations of students in the band, and many dropped out. Forty quit in September; another 20 students left in January, including Band President Sai-Han Ackerman, a senior going to UCLA in September. Ackerman cites time as her reason for leaving. “I wanted to further my education and joined the Palomar Concert Band,” she said.
She does admit the program was in difficulty, saying, “The previous band director had a goal and knew how to get there, while the current band director had a goal, too, but no path.” Ackerman says the previous band director let students and parents know in advance what was going to happen, then didn’t change the plans. He was also open to suggestions from students and parents. She thinks the band director who replaced him “wanted things his way regardless.”
In defense of the hiring decision Anthony explains, “He had just completed his student teaching and hadn’t taught anywhere before — hadn’t had a job yet. We knew this going in. It could have worked.”
According to Leonelli, since he’s been in Fallbrook, FUHS has had a new band director “every couple of years.” But Fallbrook is no different than other high school districts. Boyle says during his 10 years as a principal, seven different band directors worked at Escondido High School. He explained that the position is definitely time-consuming.
“Young band directors go right to high schools and can devote all their time to the job. But when they marry and have kids, they look for more time with their families,” he says.
Leonelli and Jonesrebandt say it takes several years to establish a band program. They suggest it’s not unlike a sports coach who must first learn the strengths and weaknesses of his team, understand school and community sports support before he can formulate a program that will successfully generate wins. Tom Anthony agrees, “Sometimes a program is so damaged it’s hard to rebuild.” It takes about three years to get a band program established well enough to get scholastic-oriented ratings, says Jonesrebandt. She says kids are more interested if they know a band gets recognition.
Salary, as well as a less demanding job, plays a part in getting and keeping a motivated band director. Salaries range widely. Central Union High School in El Centro offers its band director from $35,515 to $53,947; their enrollment is 4,107. At Schurr High School in Montebello the salary range is $36,780 to $76,890 with an enrollment of 3,500, while Escondido High School is offering $39,847 to $55,682 for a temporary band director. Their enrollment is 2,740 students.
Tom Anthony reports the district is reviewing six applications for the FUHS band director position. Each of the applicants will be observed teaching a class, then interviewed by the department chair and Jim Yahr. Finally, references will be checked. “We do not accept less than three references,” Anthony says.
What band and music mean to students
Being a musician in a high school band provides students with intellectual and physical growth. Moreover, the social aspect of the group dynamic creates a cohesive bond, like a sports team might, or a club. To excel, says ninth-grader Anna Phillips, musicians must use both sides of their brain. Phillips plays flute in the FUHS marching and concert bands and saxophone in its jazz band. Her interest in music began to develop in fourth grade but she made the
decision to join band when, as a student at Sullivan Middle School, members of the FUHS band came to her school to recruit. “I have to join band; this is too cool to pass up,” she remembers saying. In addition to her duties in the FUHS band program, Anna is a member of the San Diego Youth Flute Choir and the Palomar College Concert Band, where she enrolled in a band class, and this summer will attend the Music Academy at UCLA.
Anna says, “It’s something I desire to do, and when I do it, I get rewards from outside of academics. I need that place to go to where my mind stops thinking about friends, books. In band, everyone is so nice.”
MaryAnn Phillips supports her daughter’s interest in band. She says it teaches organization, self-discipline, focusing skills, self-esteem and how to be a team player. From its marching aspect, students learn physical movement, they develop their large and small motor skills and they how to use their whole brain. As far as scheduling classes and making time for band, it’s a matter of choices, says Anna.
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