Texas marching bands... a few thoughts
Omar A Zaidi
It's nice to finally have a group with high school bands being discussed.
I graduated from Westlake HS in Austin in 1990 and up to that time,
westlake had had a 19 year sweepstakes streak, which was broken when we
got a 2 at district. We had a new band director and about 36 freshman out
of 100 marchers. I dunno how large Westlake is now, but in 1993 when I
last saw them, they had a school record 157 ppl on the field. what a
difference 3 years makes, when one is able to convince people not to drop
out after 8th grade.
I wonder what motivated UIL to go to this idiotic "every other year"
championship thing? They claimed that it was "what the schools wanted",
something which I find difficult to swallow at best, considering the many
bands who may have a good group and show one year but not be able to get
a championship because of this. Imagine telling a senior he can't go to
state when his band might just make it there. Westlake is one of the few
bands in the state that has won championships in 2A,3A and 4A (TMEA honor
band). The problem westlake ran into was too mant tough bands in the 5A
Austin district (Round Rock, Westwood, Crockett and Bowie). I wonder if
there us any way for bands like Westlake with a long history of a good
solid program to compete without falling victim to favortism by the judges?
There are advantages to being judged by peer directors, but certain
schools develop certain reputations. Unfortunately, Westlake has always
been singled out at the rich snobs, something which hurts the image the
school has.
I've seen Westfield, Spring, Klein, and Duncanville as well as Crockett
and I think that they all have very good programs, but something has to
change in the judging process to give other bands a level playing field.
I can't remember when was the last time a band from south texas won the
class 5A championship. Crockett made it there several times, but never
won. I've seen some really good bands from San Antonio.
While I'm here, anyone know how Westlake did in the football playoffs
this weekend? They played San Antonio Clark in the class 5A division 2
state quarterfinals. I've been keeping track of Westlake's progress this
season and they've earned their #1 state ranking. Also, would anyone
happen to know what music Westlake played this year at contest and how
they did and how many people they had?
Van Ragsdale, who was my director for 3 years at Westlake is now at
Odessa Permian. It's no surprise to me that hsi bands dominate West
Texas, because he always has a good eye for what judges and audiences
want. He is the best concert band director I've ever worked with and I've
worked with quite a few through my playing career.
Do you think that if the UIl were to limit the number of hours a HS band
could practice a week, that it might level things? Food for thought.
Omar Zaidi | zaid...@maroon.tc.umn.edu | It's -10F out.
24650 Logan Avenue, Suite A | "Nothing we have done in | Let's see...
Lakeville MN 55044-8180 | the past will ever be good | Where is my
612 469 6095 | enough again"-WHS band '86 | coffee today?
James Morris
: I wonder what motivated UIL to go to this idiotic "every other year"
: championship thing? They claimed that it was "what the schools wanted",
: something which I find difficult to swallow at best, considering the many
: bands who may have a good group and show one year but not be able to get
: a championship because of this. Imagine telling a senior he can't go to
: state when his band might just make it there.
The rationale, as explained to us, was to reduce the financial on poor
school districts with excellent bands (e.g., Brownfield, Denver City,
Monohans, and almost all of the 1A and 2A powerhouses). When most bands
like that don't take spring trips but once every other year, finding the
money to send 150+ people to Austin, house them, feed them, etc., was too
hard on the ISD's budgets.
: I've seen Westfield, Spring, Klein, and Duncanville as well as Crockett
: and I think that they all have very good programs, but something has to
: change in the judging process to give other bands a level playing field.
: I can't remember when was the last time a band from south texas won the
: class 5A championship. Crockett made it there several times, but never
: won. I've seen some really good bands from San Antonio.
Or West Texas? Try 1982.
: Van Ragsdale, who was my director for 3 years at Westlake is now at
: Odessa Permian. It's no surprise to me that hsi bands dominate West
: Texas, because he always has a good eye for what judges and audiences
: want. He is the best concert band director I've ever worked with and I've
: worked with quite a few through my playing career.
Just a question: How does finishing at best 2nd in the past 4 years
count as dominating? Since 1990-91, Permian has not won a marching
contest or concert contest in West Texas, finishing as low as 4th at area
in 1992 (which meant placing behind a band that received a III at
marching contest the year before) and declining to submit a tape (along
with OHS and Midland High) for the TMEA Honor Band in that year. They
have not placed more students in the All-Region or Area bands than Lee
since 1989, and haven't placed more in the All-State band since 1980.
Granted, Van Ragsdale is a good director, but Randy Storie should be
getting some credit, too. His bands have been dominating West Texas.
: Do you think that if the UIl were to limit the number of hours a HS band
: could practice a week, that it might level things? Food for thought.
They have instituted an 8 hour rule, which basically says that no band
can rehearse more than 8 hours total each week outside of school.
Verdict's still out on whether or not it's worked.
Omar A Zaidi
James Morris <jemo...@course1.harvard.edu> wrote:
>Omar A Zaidi (zaid...@maroon.tc.umn.edu) wrote:
>
>
>: I wonder what motivated UIL to go to this idiotic "every other year"
>: championship thing? They claimed that it was "what the schools wanted",
> The rationale, as explained to us, was to reduce the financial on poor
>school districts with excellent bands (e.g., Brownfield, Denver City,
>Monohans, and almost all of the 1A and 2A powerhouses). When most bands
>like that don't take spring trips but once every other year, finding the
>money to send 150+ people to Austin, house them, feed them, etc., was too
>hard on the ISD's budgets.
Ok, I hadn't thought of that, but why penalize the 4A and 5A schools. Why
not make the 1A and 2A every other year. I think most of the 5A
powerhouses don't have a problem making it to Austin, although I could be
wrong.
>: Van Ragsdale, who was my director for 3 years at Westlake is now at
>: Odessa Permian. It's no surprise to me that hsi bands dominate West
>: Texas, because he always has a good eye for what judges and audiences
>: want. He is the best concert band director I've ever worked with and I've
>: worked with quite a few through my playing career.
>
> Just a question: How does finishing at best 2nd in the past 4 years
>count as dominating? Since 1990-91, Permian has not won a marching
>contest or concert contest in West Texas, finishing as low as 4th at area
>in 1992 (which meant placing behind a band that received a III at
>marching contest the year before) and declining to submit a tape (along
>with OHS and Midland High) for the TMEA Honor Band in that year. They
>have not placed more students in the All-Region or Area bands than Lee
>since 1989, and haven't placed more in the All-State band since 1980.
>Granted, Van Ragsdale is a good director, but Randy Storie should be
>getting some credit, too. His bands have been dominating West Texas.
>
I got my information from a previous post which said Permain was
dominating West Texas. With your facts, I stand corrected. Have any ideas
why he's not been having luck? If his tenure at Westlake is any
predictor, I think he may not be paying attention to the quality of
people he is getting from the junior high schools that feed into Permian.
By the way, would anyone happen to have the address of Permian? I'd like
to send him a letter.
When Kerry Taylor came to Westlake in 1990 (my senior year), his first
priority was to fix the hemmoraging of the band program at Westlake. We
had 36 freshman marchers that year out of a 94 piece band and we got the
first 2 at UIL marching contest in the school's history. It was a sad day
to know that 18 years of sweepstakes had ended. The problem was that we
had freshman who didn't belong in the program, or worse yet, they couldn't
play music that reflected the high level of expectations people had for
Westlake. It showed in the spring when we got a 3 in concert and a 2 in
sightreading. Since then, Westlake has gotten sweeps every year, but I
believe it's only because Taylor realized Ragsdale left him a mess and set
about to fix it.I've been told by my parents that Westlake now has 180
people in the band program which is the most the school's ever had. Kerry
Taylor's father is the band director at Alice, which I believe has a 30
year sweepstakes streak (consecutive) now. I learned a hard lesson from my
senior year: Your organization is only going to be as good as the quality
of the people it is composed of. It's something I'll remember for the rest
of my life, because I'll always remember the stunned, hushed silence and
tears that flowed that cold October night in Austin when it dawned on
everyone at Nelson Field that Westlake's streak was at an end. It was
something the band always had been proud of and it was hard to pick up and
keep going. Some band parents suggested that the judges had us for lunch,
but I saw the video and we deserved what we got. We had a simplistic
western theme show with a moderately difficult drill and we got 1,2,2 from
the judges. Bobby Floyd (bless him) gave us a 1. I have a harder time
making the case for 3's in concert, since I have that recording, and it
sounds great. Fortunately, the school board and band parents realized
that Taylor wasn't entirely to blame for what happened, and his head
wasn't lopped off as some might have expected. Taylor is 34, so I expect
him to follow in his dad's footsteps and stay at Westlake awhile ;-)
One has to wonder what happened at concert competition when the band played
PErschetti's Pslam for Band and Ive's Second Symphony-Finale the year
before, only to end up playing Nobles of The Mystic Shrine MArch, Satiric
Dances and Overture to Candide the following year.
>
>: Do you think that if the UIl were to limit the number of hours a HS band
>: could practice a week, that it might level things? Food for thought.
>
>They have instituted an 8 hour rule, which basically says that no band
>can rehearse more than 8 hours total each week outside of school.
>Verdict's still out on whether or not it's worked.
This may not work because some bands may get more time in during the
day then others. I've been told Westfield rahearses 2-3 hours during
school and then up to 8 after school hours. Is it any wonder that
they're so good? I think you might find Spring, Klein, Duncanville and
others to be in the same boat.
It's ok to have a few powerhouses, but if Dallas and Houston keep
sending bands to State, what are the bands in West Texas and South
Texas supposed to do? Someplace in the system, there has to be equity. I
wouldn't push it so far as to say that we should make finals an affair
where 2 bands from each area of the state should get to finals, but I
think that a band from San Antonio should be given an equal chance
compared to one from Houston.
RLJ
A Zaidi) wrote:
*stuff deleted*
> It's ok to have a few powerhouses, but if Dallas and Houston keep
> sending bands to State, what are the bands in West Texas and South
> Texas supposed to do? Someplace in the system, there has to be equity. I
> wouldn't push it so far as to say that we should make finals an affair
> where 2 bands from each area of the state should get to finals, but I
> think that a band from San Antonio should be given an equal chance
> compared to one from Houston.
>
>
The bands from San Antonio and West Texas, *DO* get chance --PRELIMS!!!
The bands coming out of the aforementioned areas the past couple of years
simply do not compare to the Dallas/Houston 'powerehouses' of recent. I
have listed reasons on a previous post that convey my argument. You can
not convince me, or judges for that matter, that bands which have been at
state finals since '90 should be replaced by other ones. The quality of
music, show and overall performance of those bands are on another level.
Until the south and west Texas bands improve on the aspects of the marching
show that the powerhouse bands have had to do to stay competitive, there is
not going to be a change in the domination of the of the finals.
Frankly, if a band is able to advance out of the Houston and/or Dallas
area competitions, they deserve to be at state finals. The
ultra-competitive shows which place high at the Houston area contests but
fail to advance to state (Klien, Klein Oak, Clements), would do very well
at state prelims, probably ranking higher than the south/west Texas bands.
I know that is not fair to say, but Klein, although not advancing to state
in 4 yrs, would have made state finals, along with the other three area
reps., if our area would have sent ***FOUR*** representatives. Their shows
have been very good, but judges have had to draw the line somewhere, thus
sending three other 'better' bands. That is how high the level of
competition is around Houston.
Raymond Juarez
Pearland HS marching band '90-'93
GHudman
Omar,
First of all, its good to see another Texan up here in the frigid
Minnesota winter! I do feel, however, that I need to correct some
misinformation you may have about the Westfield Band Program. I currently
work here in Minneapolis for General Mills, but before getting my MBA, I
was a band director in Texas for 5 years. And you guessed it...I worked at
Westfield! During the four years I was lucky enough to work with the
Westfield Band (1986-90 school years), we NEVER rehearsed the marching
band, OR ANY PERSON IN IT, more than the 8 hours per week allowed by the
UIL. The directors tracked the time of each student so that we were
clearly within the rules. Unfortunately, due to our successes, we became
the focus of many rumors.
One other persistent rumor voiced in this forum recently concerns the
amount of money Westfield and other fine bands spend on their shows. While
we did procure the services of, arguably, the finest drill designer in the
business, we saved a great deal of money by creating all of the guard
uniforms, flags, and other equipment ourselves. What appeared to be
expensive flags and uniforms were actually sewn together by a dedicated
group of parents from some of the cheapest fabric we could find.
This, however, explains the true secret and power behind the Westfield
Band Program: THE PARENTS. The WHS band parents were the most dedicated
and tireless group of support personnel I have ever seen. They are the
reason behind the WHS string of successes, not money. (When we did have
fund raising money available, we tended to use it to provide private
lesson scholarships and hire expert instrumental clinicians to further
educate our student on their instruments.)
If you, or any other band fan, have any further questions, or would care
to discuss this further, please feel free to e-mail me at the above
address.
Gary Hudman
matthew travis houser
What's this about only practicing 8 hours per week? Does that restriction
apply during the summer also? Do bands tend to compensate for this
restriction by beginning to work on their shows earlier in the year?
This is the first I have ever heard of such a restriction.
-Matt Houser
hou...@engin.umich.edu
sl...@cc.usu.edu
Genreally under UIL rules a band or any other extracrecular event can not
start proactiscing until a certain dat and that is generally 1 month before
school starts
Steven DeSpain
Bryan David Szalwinski
Of course, I am slightly biased in this subject, but so was one of the judges in the prelims. One of the judges, Linda McDavitt, up until last year was the band director of our rival school, MacArthur High (of S.A.) which used to be a powerhouse. She and my band director were engaged in a petty little band-director feud. From comments that I heard my band director make about Ms. McDavitt, you could tell they hated each other. It just so happens that McDavitt gave Churchill a rank that was way out of line from what the other judges gave. I'm not sure what it was, but it was much lower than the other scores. I don't remember if the high/low scores are thrown out in prelims, but even if they are, her unfair decision skewed the results, and I believe if she were not a prelim judge, Churchill would have made the finals. They were only out of the finals by one vote.
I don't argue that Spring is a better band, however from what I saw of Westfield, although their marching and playing was extremely good, it was also extremely boring. I also cant understand why duncanville always makes the finals. The fact that they can get so many people to mark time at the same time is not impressive. They don't really seem to do anything intricate, they just do everything on an extremely large scale. I don't think that's too impressive.
So, to the people who think that south texas bands cant compete, just wait until the '96 contest. I think you'll see at least one change.
By the way, Churchill did defeat some houston bands at BOA (MBA) in San Antonio, proving that they can compete. I believe the band was Klein or Klein Oak, or maybe both.
The "Houston" level of quality is out there in South Texas, at least for one of the bands I know...
Bryan Szalwinski,
WCHS '94
Stephen Downes 952-4360
> First of all, I'd like to introduce myself to all who read this newsgroup. I'm a freshman at Rice >University in Houston Texas. As you may have guessed by the subject line, I marched for 4 years at Churchill >High School in San Antonio. Over the 4 years that I marched there, I observed tremendous improvement. We went >from a band that had not been to regional competition in many years to a band that made it all the way to the >state prelims. That year, we placed 6th at state, one band away from fin
> Of course, I am slightly biased in this subject, but so was one of the judges in the prelims. One of >the judges, Linda McDavitt, up until last year was the band director of our rival school, MacArthur High (of >S.A.) which used to be a powerhouse. She and my band director were engaged in a petty little band-director >feud. From comments that I heard my band director make about Ms. McDavitt, you could tell they hated each >other. It just so happens that McDavitt gave Churchill a rank that was way ou
Bryan I totally agree with you we all know that this stuff happens every year and to more than just your band.
I don't know where they should get judges from in order to eliminate this problem.?
> I don't argue that Spring is a better band, however from what I saw of Westfield, although their >marching and playing was extremely good, it was also extremely boring.
I also couldn't agree with you more about Westfield either. THey were very boring but their reputation pulled them thru again
> I also cant understand why duncanville
>always makes the finals. The fact that they can get so many people to mark time at the same time is not >impressive. They don't really seem to do anything intricate, they just do everything on an extremely large >scale. I don't think that's too impressive.
Again you are right on. Duncanville is only impressive with their numbers not their drill or music.
> So, to the people who think that south texas bands cant compete, just wait until the '96 contest. I >think you'll see at least one change.
> By the way, Churchill did defeat some houston bands at BOA (MBA) in San Antonio, proving that they can >compete. I believe the band was Klein or Klein Oak, or maybe both.
> The "Houston" level of quality is out there in South Texas, at least for one of the bands I know...
>
>Bryan Szalwinski,
>WCHS '94
So how do other good bands ever get a break???
Watch for The Colony High School in '96 also. I'll be watching for you guys.
Steve
James Morris
: In article <3c7aa2$h...@srvr1.engin.umich.edu>, hou...@engin.umich.edu (matthew travis houser) writes:
: >
: > What's this about only practicing 8 hours per week? Does that restriction
: > apply during the summer also? Do bands tend to compensate for this
: > restriction by beginning to work on their shows earlier in the year?
: >
: > This is the first I have ever heard of such a restriction.
: There is no restriction during the summer on the amount of time spent...
: Genreally under UIL rules a band or any other extracrecular event can not
: start proactiscing until a certain dat and that is generally 1 month before
: school starts
That was prety much the case until school districts got a lot
more autonomy over their schedules when the state legislature started
letting school begin before Labor Day. Currently the cutoff date is
August 1, and it differs from extracurricular activity to activity. If a
football team chooses to practice in the spring, they are limited on when
they can begin practice in the fall and how may scrimmages they can have.
--
Paul Douglas Carter
Hey Bryan, I'm glad someone else out there thinks this way. Yes, finally
someone who will come out and say that Spring and Westfield are BORING!!!
Yes they march a very good show, sound good, and with very few mistakes,
but it is not interesting.
Yes Mrs. Mcdavitt gave us our lowest score, I think 8th or 9th place
and I agres that she shouldn't have been a judge in the first place.
I think that UIL should consider flying in some judges in from out of
state, who know nothing about the bands they are going to see.
By the way if anybody out there sees any of the tapes from BOA this year
and they watch KLIEN, they will see the biggest sort of organized choas
that the marching field had ever seen, buit yet they still beat us by one
and got fourth!! I don't know what in the heck the judges saw in that performance
There certainly weren't ANY straight lines on the field, just a BAZILLION
people in clashing colors out on the field to give you a headache.
It's so rigged it's not even funny.
Oh well, my thoughts on the corrupt Texas UIL Marching Contests!!!!!!
Jeff Whiting
junior, Trombone section leader Churchill High School
c/o Paul Carter
pca...@runner.utsa.edu
RLJ
Carter) wrote:
> It just so happens that McDavitt gave Churchill a rank that was way
out
line from what the other judges gave. I'm not sure what it was,
but it was much lower than the other scores. I don't remember if
the high/low scores are thrown out in prelims, but even if they
are, her unfair decision skewed the results, and I believe if she were not
a prelim judge, Churchill would have made the finals. They were only out
of the finals by one vote.
I know the feeling. I graduated from Pearland HS this year and my freshman
year, at state prelims, a similar thing happened. Our ratings were very
inconsistent: 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 14th !!!!!!!!!!
This inconsistency also kept us out of finals and we were 6th.
But, a band can not help such circumstances and it is unfortunate that it
does happen.
>> By the way, Churchill did defeat some houston bands at BOA (MBA) in San Antonio, proving that they can compete. I believe the band was Klein or Klein Oak, or maybe both.
> > The "Houston" level of quality is out there in South Texas, at least for one of the bands I know...
It was Klein Oak. Klein Oak also never makes it out the Houston area.
Spring, Westfield, Pearland, and Klein all have defeated Klein Oak the last
four years.
> Hey Bryan, I'm glad someone else out there thinks this way. Yes, finally
> someone who will come out and say that Spring and Westfield are BORING!!!
> Yes they march a very good show, sound good, and with very few mistakes,
> but it is not interesting.
>
You just stated that they are very good bands. The judges don't judge
solely on interest. They judge on the marching and the performance of the
music. If it seems boring, it's your opinion. If a band executes a near
flawless show, regardless if it seems boring to you, the band deserves to
be in finals.
> Yes Mrs. Mcdavitt gave us our lowest score, I think 8th or 9th place
> and I agres that she shouldn't have been a judge in the first place.
> I think that UIL should consider flying in some judges in from out of
> state, who know nothing about the bands they are going to see.
Take a look at the other judges, some are from out of state. But the ones
from out of state also know Spring and Westfield, for they haved proved
their brilliance on the field NATIONALLY at BOA. Your plan may work for
the relatively unknown Churchill, but for Spring and Westfield, the judges
would have to come from another country!
> Oh well, my thoughts on the corrupt Texas UIL Marching Contests!!!!!!
>
> Jeff Whiting
> junior, Trombone section leader Churchill High School
>
> c/o Paul Carter
> pca...@runner.utsa.edu
And for Steve Downes, who thinks Westfield gets into finals based on thier
reputation:
Westfield outmarched and outplayed The Colony and any other San Antonio
band for that matter. They had a more difficult show and more difficult
music which was executed well. As far as boring, it's your opinion. The
judges judge mainly on marching and the musicality of the performance, not
solely on whether mommy or daddy approve of it. Now Haltom HS, a finalist
in '92, was not at the state contest this past year. This should have
allowed another band to "breakthrough" into finals, since you guys feel
there has been an unfair domination. Neither The Colony nor Churchill made
thier way into finals -- It was Desoto, who wasn't even at the state
contest two years ago, who put together a sterling performance and was
rewarded the 5th place at prelims and 4th at finals.
I say try again in '96!
Raymond Juarez
Pearland HS marching band '90-'93
Cornell University
rl...@cornell.edu
Art Gonzalez
> Do you think that if the UIl were to limit the number of hours a HS band
> could practice a week, that it might level things? Food for thought.
The UIL does limit the number of hours a HS band (or any UIL sanctioned
activity) may practice per week. Practice for an extracurricular activity is
limited to no more than 60 minutes per day during school hours, and no more
than eight hours per week before or after school Monday through Friday.
This is my understanding of the UIL rule, as a HS band director.
--
================================
| Art Gonzalez |
| ar...@hifi.babcom.mission.tx.us |
| ar...@cup.portal.com |
================================
Art Gonzalez
In article <3c7aa2$h...@srvr1.engin.umich.edu> hou...@engin.umich.edu (matthew travis houser) writes:
>
> What's this about only practicing 8 hours per week? Does that restriction
> apply during the summer also? Do bands tend to compensate for this
> restriction by beginning to work on their shows earlier in the year?
The "eight hour rule", as it is known here in Texas, applies not only to band
rehearsals, but to athletic practices, drama rehearsals, literary and academic
practices, and any other practice for an extracurricular activity sanctioned by
the University Interscholastic League (UIL). Basically, it states that
students cannot practice for an extracurricular activity more than 60 minutes
per day during school hours, and no more than 8 hours per week any other time
between the beginning of school Monday and the end of school Friday.
This restriction only applies during the school year; however there are other
restrictions on summer practice as well. No band in my area begins summer
marching band practice any earlier than August 1st.
The 60 minutes per day during school hours rule caused quite a controversy a
few years ago when it was realized that the Texas All-State bands, choir and
orchestras would violate this directive with their all day rehearsals during
the four day Texas Music Educators Association convention in San Antonio. I
believe the problem was resolved by a special waiver granted by the Texas
Education Agency (TEA), the overall governing body for educational matters in
the state.
All these rules and restrictions are described in the UIL's Constitution And
Contest Rules book. If there is interest, I can bring the book home and quote
from the relevant passages.
James Morris
: This restriction only applies during the school year; however there are other
: restrictions on summer practice as well. No band in my area begins summer
: marching band practice any earlier than August 1st.
: The 60 minutes per day during school hours rule caused quite a controversy a
: few years ago when it was realized that the Texas All-State bands, choir and
: orchestras would violate this directive with their all day rehearsals during
: the four day Texas Music Educators Association convention in San Antonio. I
: believe the problem was resolved by a special waiver granted by the Texas
: Education Agency (TEA), the overall governing body for educational matters in
: the state.
: All these rules and restrictions are described in the UIL's Constitution And
: Contest Rules book. If there is interest, I can bring the book home and quote
: from the relevant passages.
Suprising that there would be controversy from the UIL over the
Texas All-State performance groups. I was under the distinct impression
that TMEA is responsible for running the All-State tryouts and clinics
and as such are not under the UIL's jurisdiction. And if the rule does
state that it is "60 minutes per day during school hours," then why can
people take more than one band or music class OR participate in more than
one UIL-sanctioned activity at a time? And if it is just during the
school day, that shouldn't have any effect on outside of class time,
which is where the rule actually comes into play. Rehearsals outside of
school time could theoretically extend as long as the director wanted.
Please post or mail the relevant passages to me, as every high school in
my region would routinely practice over an hour Monday-Thursday outside
of school, and would often have sectionals for some students during the
week as well. The 8 hour rule is a little impotent if it only refers to
practices during the school day, as most students do not have the time to
practice more than 8 hours during classes each week anyway.
Art Gonzalez
In article <3cqold$s...@decaxp.harvard.edu> jemo...@course1.harvard.edu (James Morris) writes:
> Suprising that there would be controversy from the UIL over the
> Texas All-State performance groups. I was under the distinct impression
> that TMEA is responsible for running the All-State tryouts and clinics
> and as such are not under the UIL's jurisdiction. And if the rule does
> state that it is "60 minutes per day during school hours," then why can
> people take more than one band or music class OR participate in more than
> one UIL-sanctioned activity at a time? And if it is just during the
> school day, that shouldn't have any effect on outside of class time,
> which is where the rule actually comes into play. Rehearsals outside of
> school time could theoretically extend as long as the director wanted.
> Please post or mail the relevant passages to me, as every high school in
> my region would routinely practice over an hour Monday-Thursday outside
> of school, and would often have sectionals for some students during the
> week as well. The 8 hour rule is a little impotent if it only refers to
> practices during the school day, as most students do not have the time to
> practice more than 8 hours during classes each week anyway.
Oops, in speaking with a director friend of mine a day or so ago, he told me
this "8 hour rule" is not from the UIL, but actually a Texas Education Agency
(TEA) regulation. No wonder I couldn't find it in the UIL rule book. A TEA
rule would, of course, be binding on all activities, UIL or TMEA.
Just to clarify, there are two portions to this rule. One part restricts the
amount of time one can practice for any extracurricular activity to 60 minutes
per day DURING school hours. For example, next year my HS will go to a block
schedule with four 90 minute classes per day. Only 60 of those 90 minutes can
actually be used for working on contest music. The other 30 must be used in
some other way (warmup, tone, technic, sectionals emphasizing the essential
elements, etc.)
The other part restricts practice outside of school hours to a maximum of 8
hours per week. The rule is in effect from the start of school Monday to the
end of school Friday. This may be a source of confusion here. In effect, the
rule affects Monday afterschool, Tuesday before and after school, Wednesday
before and after school, Thursday before and after school, and Friday before
school. Weekends, Monday before school, and Friday after school are not
restricted.
As to how a student can take more than one music class and not violate the 60
minutes per day rule, I assume that each extracurricular activity gets its own
60 minutes per day allotment. Keep in mind that 60 minutes is a maximum; most
non-block schedule class periods are 45-55 minutes long.