Fort Frye BOE talks band, curriculum
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BEVERLY -- The Fort Frye Local Schools Board of Education discussed band, curriculum and facility repairs at its Monday meeting
During the public forum, Sarah Cassidy, community member, asked the board if the members wanted to have a marching band.
"I believe that the band will cease to exist in the coming years," said Cassidy.
Cassidy said that she believes band will cease to exist, because of policy changes in the district. Fort Frye starts teaching band education in sixth grade, instead of at the elementary level.
"The policies are now being changed to disenfranchise our elementary students who would like to learn an instrument," she said. "You cannot expect a sixth grade student who has never played an instrument to choose to play an instrument in middle school. We also cannot expect a sixth grade student to competently play that instrument in high, school losing those formative years construction."
Cassidy said band instruction should begin being taught at the fourth grade level. She said the band cannot be expected to grow without prior exposure to instruments before middle school, where judgment and stigma are present.
Cassidy asked the board to reconsider its position and return band as an elementary elective or specials rotation.
"We need our marching band members to grow and the plan for current instruction will not do this," she said.
Stephanie Starcher, superintendent, responded by explaining how Fort Frye has tried to make band work for elementary students. She said in the past, they have tried pulling students out for band during their core classes and have also tried putting band in their specials rotation of art, physical education and music.
Starcher said at Salem Liberty Elementary, there has been a decreased interest in band, as well as an issue of finding someone to cover the course due to absentee issues and substitutes not willing to cover the course. She also explained that the Beverly-Center Elementary students only received about 20 minutes of band per session, which didn't leave enough time to learn their instruments.
"These are the things I took into consideration with the entire administrative team when we were making this decision," she said.
Starcher also said they were looking into new curriculum.
"We're going to make sure they get that instrumental base in fifth grade, by providing ukuleles and then we're going to start in the band program itself in sixth grade," she said. "We made it so that sixth grade actually has more band and is not with the seventh and eighth graders, so learning an instrument their very first year is not as overwhelming."
Starcher said previously they have never let sixth graders have band every single day. She said changing the band program is one of the drawbacks of keeping the four facilities in the district.
"I just want to say that band is a huge part of my high school life. And it was so much fun and impacted me with good relationships," said Stephanie Lang, board president.
The board approved to adopt and purchase the Elementary Music Curriculum from Quaver Music program in the amount of $1,680 for a one-year program.
Rachel Tullius, Fort Frye Middle School principal, gave a presentation on the new Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum in the district. Tullius said the previous SEL program, Character Strong, was childish, lacked flexibility and was boring and repetitive. She said the new SEL curriculum is teacher friendly, flexible and has a resource bank to choose from.
During committee reports, Starcher said roof repairs across the district are supposed to happen within the next month, this includes repairing and maintaining the roof at Salem-Liberty, Beverly-Center and Fort Frye Middle and High School. Lowell Elementary has had a roof replacement in the past decade, said Starcher. She said the boiler replacement at Salem-Liberty should happen in August.