Colfax Board of Education tables proposed changes to music program until April meeting
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — In order to increase the number of students participating in band and choir, the Colfax school district is proposing changes for grades 5 to 8 and for high school band and choir.
The changes would include making band and choir mandatory for 5th and 6th grade students, putting students in 5th through 8th grade on an every-other-day schedule with alternating Fridays, and offering band and choir during a mid-day period for high school students when other students have a study hall while providing a different study hall time for high school band and choir students, the Colfax Board of Education learned at the March 17 meeting.
William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, said he had met with music teachers Derek Westholm and Carrie Christensen about the proposed changes and noted that the Colfax music program needs parental help, too.
About 50 parents attended the March 17 meeting to speak on another matter.
Discussions on how to make changes in the music program at the Colfax school district began in May of 2024.
There are so many activities for students year round, including band and choir, a variety of sports, and taking college classes for credits at universities and technical colleges, Yingst said.
It is not a one-dimensional problem, so what is the fix? he asked.
Families are pulled in so many directions, and sports tend to overlap. For example, basketball tournaments are still taking place when spring sports start, Yingst said.
The music program needs some help. It’s “a numbers thing.” Currently, there are eight students in band, Yingst said, adding that he would like to see the school district have a choir, a marching band and a pep band.
The numbers have been dwindling over the past several years. Band directors would like 50 or 60 students, and every sport would like 30 or 40 students, he said.
Other schools with higher numbers in band and choir have lots of activities, too, noted one of the parents in the audience.
“We are open to all suggestions,” Yingst said.
Band trip
One parent noted that when she was in band in high school, there were band trips every two years.
“It was a huge appeal to students,” she said.
Many of the parents in the room said they, too, had participated in band because of the opportunity to go on band trips.
Another parent suggested offering more times for band lessons on different days of the week.
One parent asked if band lessons for 5th and 6th grade students always had to be held in the summer.
The parent noted that she had to take time off from work to get her children to school for band lessons in the summer or had to find someone else who could take them to school.
Band lessons in the middle of the day in the summer “was a turn off for my kids, too,” she said.
Instruments
One of the problems that would have to be solved would be providing instruments for the 5th and 6th graders, Yingst said.
Jaclyn Ackerlund, school board member, asked if the school district would be open to used instruments because she had a clarinet in the closet at home, gathering dust, that was a perfectly good clarinet, and with a little refurbishing, would be an acceptable, serviceable instrument.
Several parents in the audience laughed at Ackerlund’s comment about “gathering dust,” and said they also had instruments in their closets that were not being used and that they would be willing to donate to the school district.
“Jaci’s idea is good,” Yingst said, “We could certainly ask people to clean out their closets for good, used instruments.”
Instrument lessons can be frustrating for kids, said one parent.
The first few months of instruction are crucial, he said, adding that at the age of 19, he had taught himself how to play the guitar.
“There is a period of time when the brain and the fingers are not connected. But when the head and the fingers are finally connected, that’s when it becomes fun,” the parent said.
How kids are engaged is so important, he said.
Time to adjust
The school district does not want to drop the changes in the music program on parents and students in August or September, so that is why it is under consideration by the school board in March, Yingst said.
The school board could certainly wait a month to make a decision and have parents send in more comments in the meantime, he said.
The music teachers need to start searching for instruments, but that could be started in April, Yingst said.
If the school board waited a month, would that impact the ability to schedule classes for high school students? Ackerlund asked.
Scheduling can be completed even if the music decision is delayed, said John Dachel, high school principal.
“We can make it happen,” he said.
Trevor Hovde, principal at Colfax Elementary, indicated that he, too, could make the scheduling work even if the school board delayed a decision for a month.
Members of the Colfax Board of Education agreed to table to the issue of making changes to the music program until the next meeting.
Proposed schedule
According to an information sheet handed out to the Colfax Board of Education, the proposed schedule would be 5th and 6th grade band from 1:41 to 2:27 p.m.each day, with Westholm teaching 5th grade band on Mondays and Wednesdays and 6th grade band on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and band and choir alternating on Fridays.
The proposed schedule for 5th and 6th grade choir with Christensen would be choir at 1:41 to 2:27 p.m. each day, with 6th grade choir on Mondays and Wednesdays and 5th grade choir on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and band and choir alternating on Fridays.
Band and choir for 7th and 8th graders would be at 2:31 to 3:18 p.m., with 7/8th grade band on Mondays and Wednesdays and 7th/8th grade choir on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and band and choir alternating on Fridays.
High school band and choir would be scheduled at 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. every day, Monday through Friday.
Students not in high school band or choir would have study hall, so that band and choir students would not have to make a choice between band or choir and another class.
Band and choir students would have another study hall available during the day.
Requirements
Wisconsin educational curriculum requires students in grades kindergarten to 6th grade to have music instruction, so requiring band and choir in 5th and 6th grade would replace general music instruction, according to the information sheet.
Wisconsin educational curriculum requires general music, vocal music and instrumental music to be available to all students in grades 7 to 12.
Since students in grades 5 to 8 need access to small group instruction for each specific instrument, Westholm requires time to pull students in for lessons that is not during core curriculum classes.
Another suggestion is to find other solutions rather than having music staff cover recesses for more than two hours every day, and instead, perhaps, offer opportunities to community members to staff recess.
In years to come, Jim Woodford, retired band director from the Colfax school district, or other retired band directors, could be brought in to assist in teaching lessons throughout the day, which is a model already used by the Glenwood City school district.
Currently, Christensen covers 15 minutes of recess, while Westholm covers 35 minutes of recess, and Woodford covers 80 minutes of recess.
