Washington will cut fifth grade band program

WASHINGTON — After a thorough discussion Wednesday night, Washington’s school board voted unanimously to restructure the district’s band program, moving up the start date for young musicians from fifth grade to middle school.

Educators said the current start time in fifth grade was increasingly unpopular among kids, and that those who did join so early were often frustrated to relearn the basics alongside their peers who joined the following year, in middle school.

By ending the after-school class at Lincoln Elementary, the change is also expected to free up the district’s band instructors for small-group instruction and a co-teaching arrangement they say will make band courses more effective in other buildings.

“We feel really good about this plan,” said Middle School Band Teacher Hannah Ball. “We aren’t like, ‘Well, this is the lesser of two evils.’ We feel like this is really going to strengthen our program and provide the best opportunity for our students.”

Instrumental Music Teacher Don Hughes, who works at both Washington’s Lincoln Elementary and the high school, said the change would give him much-needed prep time, and prevent burnout for future band directors who would otherwise have to run between the buildings, and likely juggle the responsibility with before- and after-school activities like marching band.

While such extracurricular positions have separate contracts from Hughes’ teaching job, he said it wasn’t worth the risk of overclocking the district’s future band instructors.

“The big thing I’m worried about it, I’m going to be here, by my plan, a couple more years. And if you look at that, with teacher shortage, with lots of band jobs open, I worry about the marketability of that position,” he said. “Once we get into a position where you have a revolving door, as far as band directors go, you can kiss your program goodbye.”

Despite the unanimous vote and enthusiasm from band directors, the board’s decision came only after lengthy deliberation.

The change will end band practice for students at Lincoln, as well as St. James, a private, Pre-K through fifth grade school in Washington that often partners with the public district. Currently, young musicians there get bused to the junior high building for an after-school practice, run by Hughes.

Some school board members said they were hesitant to end a program so highly anticipated by some students. Multiple said they worried the decision would prove hard to reverse, if it played out poorly.

“It’s something new that they look forward to, I just hate taking away programs,” said Board Member Kara Williams. “I feel like even 30 kids matter. And maybe there’s something we can do differently with the fifth grade band … I’m just really struggling with not having a fifth grade band.”

Nearby districts Washington’s size or smaller tend to fall into one of two camps.

Some, like Mid-Prairie and Mt. Pleasant, offer band as early as fifth grade, but have three staff members to direct those bands. Others, like Highland and Solon, don’t start the class until grade six, having just one or two directors. Washington’s fifth grade class, for a district with only two directors, was an exception to the norm, according to Hughes and Ball.

Ultimately, board members said they were convinced by the arguments from district music teachers.

“I hate it, that the fourth graders that were looking forward to starting band in fifth grade are going to be disappointed, but hopefully they’ll look forward to it for the next year,” said Board Member Mindi Rees. “I’m very excited to see a new idea that could strengthen the program from the foundation. When the two (teachers) have more time to put toward really teaching the kids band, and getting them excited about it, I’m all for that.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com