HS Marching Band fees

[LAMystreaux]

Oh, and I reported it for those that meant to.

Thank you! This existence of this thread in the drum corps forum has seriously been stressing me out.

[jonnyboy]

I had no idea bands charged fees that are so high. Let me see.....1000 bucks to go to BOA or 2000 to march corps. Corps all the way.

As a matter of fact, I'm getting sick to my stomach thinking about how much these programs are making kids pay. Who needs $2500 uniforms (as one poster stated)? How much are these staff members getting paid?

Stop the arms race!!!! Use the same uniforms every year. Take care of your equipment so you don't need to replace it as often. Band trips are great, but try sleeping on the floor instead of renting 100 hotel rooms. Hire a few techs, but how many teachers does one band need? These budgets must be disgusting.

[ToferVis]

While I understand your point, Marching band planet ( IMHO ) is very weak for getting information. Most of what I read there are just kids chatting in the back of the bus.

As a band director in a private school who receives no budget at all, I charge the senior band ( 7-12th grades) $100 and provide everything but food and charter trips. We do several charter trips a year for football and TRY to pay for 1/2 of their seat price till I run out of money.

My elementary program I charge $25 a semester to rent an instrument. ( no charge is they own their own )

From these funds I have purchased over 80 instruments on ebay and do 90% of the repair work myself.

very noble of you, to put more work into your program to save money and repair things yourself. My old band director called in a specialist every time a woodwind players springs would come loose (exaggeration of course)

[BlueR36]

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who has responded to this topic -- I've emailed the link to both the band director and the president of the music boosters so they can see the discussion.

The fee my marching band charges covers all the basics of putting a show on the field, along with an overnight stay for our State Championships. The overnighter is pretty necessary because we're in the smallest class in NYS, so we usually perform before 11 am (sometimes as early as 8 am) and we're about 4 hours away from Syracuse (and you usually have to "check in" at the first warm-up site at least 60 minutes ahead of your performance time).

The students are able to participate in fund-raisers (chicken BBQ, pie sales, etc., even running a carnival last summer) that can eliminate that fee and build up more "money" in their accounts for either trips or future seasons. The students get "credit" for not only selling tickets and other items, but also for "showing up" to help on the days of the events (BBQ, carnival).

When I marched back in HS (late 1980s), we went on a smallish trip every year (Washington DC, Toronto, NYC, Philadelphia) with a big one every four or five years (Florida, New Orleans). Back then, you could either pay or raise money toward those trips, but there was no fee.

Now, the band hasn't taken a trip in a few years, but is looking to go to DC or maybe Florida next year. Besides the small fee (WAAAY less than the $1000-$1500 some talk about here), the students will be expected to have a certain amount in their "accounts" for the trip ... a few hundred dollars or more, depending on the trip, of course.

While I didn't have the fee way back when and I hate the fact that it's come to this in this day and age, I understand.

But here's how I see it -- if a students tries to sell tickets, pies, etc., and participates in the fund-raisers themselves (taking BBQs out to cars, making subs, whatever), they can offset that fee. If they choose not to participate in helping the marching band raise money, well, here's a fee for them to pay instead.

This school district does help a little with instruments and uniforms every 6-8-10 years, and with a small budget to pay for designers, arrangers and the director (not really staff, which means I worked for free last fall), along with buses to local competitions during the season and stuff like that. But, anything props and guard uniforms and flags and trips, the band program pays for those.

This is a school that had maybe 100-120 students per graduating class. The marching band back in its hey-day would average maybe 125-150 students, but improved this past fall to about 60 after falling to about 35 the year before. This is NOT a BOA band by any means, but an excellent program for this area.

On another conversation, I do not completely understand the responses from some of you who think this topic shouldn't be discussed here at all. All this time, I thought this was a Web site and a forum for drum corps fans to discuss things they were interested in discussing ... obviously, it usually revolves directly around drum corps, but quite often the topics are only "related" to drum corps.

But really, some of you are quite upset? I mean, come on, discussing high school marching band is only one or two "steps" away from drum and bugle corps.

I don't understand how discussing HS school marching bands and its students ... they are the people who make up drum and bugle corps after all, aren't they? ... is such an affront to some people.

If you don't like my topic, please don't read it.

[I.R. Baritone]

I was in a small band in northeast NC. We never paid a dime to march. We did fundraisers and paid for our own shirts, reeds, shoes, etc. We also had a major trip in the spring (not regional) and competed in the winter (regional). I'd never heard of BOA until I moved to Indiana in '00 (I graduated in '92). They've since moved on to become a VERY big band and go to BOA every year (Currituck County High School for anyone who might have seen them). To the best of my knowledge, they still don't charge anything. Of course, I don't keep in touch with too many people back home.

I don't know if the high school charges anything here in WV. They probably don't because if they did, there would be no band program. It's just too poor of an area to do that. Although Bluefield High School is VERY good and I've heard of other bands in WV going to BOA. I guess I'll find out if they charge when my son gets up there. He's in his first year of band at the Intermediate School and plays saxophone.

[Lancerlady]

On another conversation, I do not completely understand the responses from some of you who think this topic shouldn't be discussed here at all. All this time, I thought this was a Web site and a forum for drum corps fans to discuss things they were interested in discussing ... obviously, it usually revolves directly around drum corps, but quite often the topics are only "related" to drum corps.

But really, some of you are quite upset? I mean, come on, discussing high school marching band is only one or two "steps" away from drum and bugle corps.

I don't understand how discussing HS school marching bands and its students ... they are the people who make up drum and bugle corps after all, aren't they? ... is such an affront to some people.If you don't like my topic, please don't read it.

That's not the point, the point is, it's a "drum corps forum", there is a place for a discussion like this it's called "marchingbandplanet", and I guess that fact is being ignored.

Edited December 20, 2007 by Lancerlady

[LAMystreaux]

That's not the point, the point is, it's a "drum corps forum", there is a place for a discussion like this it's called "marchingbandplanet", and I guess that fact is being ignored.

It has also been pointed out that the forum there would not have been a good place for this person to receive the information they were looking for.

In the end, some people got truly bent out of shape over something that should not be a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

[RockEuph]

In my Band it was 300 a year

150 at band camp the rest of the year to get the other 150 through fundraising, etc

to pay for show music, drill, staff (which i now benefit from ) etc

[Lancerlady]

It has also been pointed out that the forum there would not have been a good place for this person to receive the information they were looking for.

In the end, some people got truly bent out of shape over something that should not be a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

I'm truly not bent out of shape just trying to point out something.

[LAMystreaux]

I'm truly not bent out of shape just trying to point out something.

No, but some definitely were.