Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2015-08-12 08:06
Many good points have been made, but I want to add one thing that Ari might not realize.
He mentioned his anger over the fact that the large band was split into two smaller groups during his sophomore year, and he was very bitter.
It's likely that a lot went on behind the scenes when the band director made this decision, and he might not have wanted to do it. It's possible he was forced by his superiors, for one reason or another, to create the two bands. If he had made his true feelings known to his students, he could have been written up for insubordination or fired.
When I was a public school band director, I was asked by my music coordinator and building administrators to do things that made no sense. On many occasions, I wanted to make my feelings known to my students and parents, but knew that if I wanted to keep my job, it was best to keep my mouth shut.
Some states and school districts now have very stringent requirements about who is allowed to work with students. There is a long tradition of parent volunteers and members of the community coming into schools to assist with few questions asked. This is still permitted, but in many cases, volunteers and other outsiders have to go through a background check and/or get fingerprinted. Someone has to pay for this, and in some instances, it's cheaper to keep the outsiders out rather than pay the fingerprinting and background check costs.
It's possible your director was told by one of his superiors that he could no longer bring in the woodwind instructor, and he's not able to discuss this issue with you.
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