Bob Losin said: >I suggested this to a band director friend who thought it was a great idea... but the powers that be informed him that money could only be spent on new instruments, or repairing existing instruments. If the repairs were too much money, then the instrument was scrapped, notwithstanding that there were no funds for new ones. Welcome to the world of school administrators.<
This may be true in the case of this particular school district, but every school district I taught in allowed me to use my budget in the way that best benefited the program. In some cases the "budget" from the district was barely enough to cover office supplies. This is where a good booster program can be a tremendous asset. Even without a booster organization, most programs do fundraising to some degree. So when planning the fundraising goals, I included the purchase of used instruments for the school inventory as one of those goals. This did not only include the typical, larger school owned instruments, but a number of flutes, clarinets, cornets, and trombones. Yes, these were available from the local instrument rental companies, but teaching in impoverished inner-city and rural schools, not all kids could afford the rentals. These used instruments were not old and worn out junkers, but included rental returns or trade-ins from music dealers, and instruments used by former students who had moved on to other things (yes attrition is a fact of life). Pawn shops can be another source of used instruments for reasonable money. The caution here is that one has to be able to tell if the instrument is serviceable or beyond repair, or have a resource that will evaluate them for you. Obviously, if they are beyond repair or too costly to repair, pass it by and keep looking. I don't know if the are still doing it, but Interstate Music in Wisconsin and Taylor Music in South Dakota were both good sources for good, used instruments at reasonable prices. For the band or orchestra director who's survival depends on generating sufficient numbers in his/her program to keep the administrators happy, this is a way to get more kids in the door. The more you get in the door, the more you're likely to keep, ad infinitum. Yes, I know there are situations where the district provides no budget and doesn't want the stigma of having their students out fundraising. In most cases, I've found that if you paint an accurate picture to the administrators, they'll relent. You may have to work your way up the chain to the superintendent or the school board/committee, but do your homework, be prepared to answer their questions, be prepared to demonstrate the "deplorable state of your inventory" and go for it. Good luck Dana Twiss, retired from the trenches Litchfield, Maine _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
