The music will go on, but competitive marching won’t.
The Indiana State School Music Association canceled its marching band competitive season Friday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Columbus North and Columbus East high school marching bands compete in eight to 10 ISSMA events per year, which are held across the state and feature more than 200 schools.
Those in the marching band community weren’t shocked by the decision.
The ISSMA sent a note to band directors the night of July 14, but an official statement wasn’t put out by the organization until Friday afternoon. ISSMA officials stated that they wanted to let band directors share the news with their students before releasing the decision.
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“After careful consideration of all options, and in accordance with ISSMA’s responsibility to provide a safe and respectful environment at all ISSMA events, the ISSMA Executive Committee has determined those guidelines and measures could not be effectively put in place to ensure a safe environment for students, directors, supporting personnel, adjudicators, workers, and spectators at a live marching band event,” the statement said. “In keeping with the ISSMA mission to provide educationally evaluated music performance opportunities, a process to provide an assessment through virtual means is being explored.”
Despite ISSMA’s request, some band directors shared the information on social media prior to Friday’s announcement — alerting many to the decision in advance.
Marching band members at North and East received the news Wednesday from their head band directors.
“I would say ‘disappointed’ is an understatement for the kids,” said Columbus North second-year Band Director Bryan Munoz. “This is something that they look forward to all year. Marching band is probably one of the things they get most excited about during the school year. To have that competition format taken away….it’s pretty devastating.”
There are around 120 students in North’s marching band and 75 at East for the 2020-21 school year. About 20 seniors are expected to make up North’s roster while East estimates there are about a dozen seniors.
“I had a lot of questions before they even made the announcement,” said Columbus East Head Band Director David Rodgers, who is entering his 21st year at the school. “I know that some other groups had already decided they weren’t going to do it this year. They are erring on the safe side. High schools volunteer to host these events for ISSMA. I think the feeling was that bringing different people, from different areas, could cause issues.”
While the students were disappointed at first, both band directors said that practices were back to being upbeat by Friday.
The band directors said that marching band season planning starts after the turn of the new year, and that plans have changed multiple times over the course of the spring and summer as regulations have changed with the ongoing pandemic.
One of the canceled events includes the annual marching band invitational at North, which brings in 15 to 20 bands and serves as the program’s biggest fundraiser each year. Munoz said that the program typically collects $10,000 to $15,000 in proceeds, which covers around 35% of the marching band’s annual operating costs.
The programs recently started holding in-person band camps after conducting online meetings for most of the summer.
Students are required to follow Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s COVID-19 health guidelines, which include daily temperature checks and screening questions. The students and staff, which work in smaller groups outdoors, are required to socially distance when playing instruments, and must wear masks when they’re not playing.
Rodgers, who said he has worked in head band directing positions since 1987, said he’s never had to adjust to anything like the current restrictions.
“It’s uncharted territory. I’m mentoring a first-year teacher and he’s looking to me for advice…and I’m telling him I’ve never seen something like this,” he said.
Both directors said they’re retooling their season towards a more “non-competitive” format, which will include a wider variety of songs. The current plan is to perform at halftime during football games and at any other community events, including parades, as allowed by local and state health departments.
“If we can perform, we’re going to,” Munoz said. “We’re working our hardest to make sure this is a meaningful senior year for our kids — that they felt they got the four best years they possibly could out of our program.”
Munoz and Rodgers also teach at their high schools, and said they’re working out plans for classes with BCSC. Rodgers estimated he has 30 students per class while Munoz usually has about 50 to 60.
BCSC will have a presentation on reopening at the school board meeting Monday, which begins at 6:30 p.m. and also will be livestreamed, with the link on the school corporation’s website.
