Brown County High School students will no longer spend weeks of the summer in the sun during marching band camp.

Instead, band teacher Matt Finley has proposed moving the marching band program to the last week of summer and carrying the program into the fall. This will allow the band to participate in fall competitions and Indiana University Band Day, along with performing at Friday night home football games.

“In the summer band program, the kids come out, they work their butts off and they work really hard. A lot of their performances are in the summer,” Principal Shane Killinger said at the March 1 Brown County School Board of Trustees meeting.

“By the time they get back into school, their season is done, and then they see them on Friday nights. I think this is a way to not only help with our kids making the season a little more compact, but gives them more of a limelight in the school setting.”

Board members supported the move. “I am willing to give anything a shot, especially if it helps the kids. I know it is hard in the summer. It’s so hot,” board member Judy Hardwick said.

“Thank you for thinking outside of the box,” Vice President Carol Bowden said.

Finley said that having the marching band program during the summer creates barriers for some students to participate. “Due to it being such a very large portion of their summer time dedicated to marching band, it became difficult to participate, so membership has always been not the strongest as it could have been,” he said.

This is why he wants to move the program to the fall. Students would practice after school two days a week and perform at Friday night home football games and Indiana State School Music Association competitions.

“The reason, the big one again, is making it easier for students to participate in marching band and not being forced to choose,” he said.

ISSMA has a class the marching band can perform in that is specifically for smaller bands. “It kind of allows us to be competitive without being blown out of water by schools like Carmel and schools like that. They are fabulously, great, big bands, but it’s just two different kinds of worlds,” Finley said.

Finley said he has spoken with the show choir and drama teachers to make sure his after-school rehearsals wouldn’t conflict with theirs. He said rehearsals would go from 6 to 8:30 p.m. so they won’t interfere with fall sports practices.

Finley said he is also exploring ways to take the marching band to the Drum Corps International semifinals in Indianapolis, along with IU Band Day and other independent school competitions outside of ISSMA.

The high school’s Color Guard would perform alongside the marching band. Finley said the Color Guard instructors are looking to make it a requirement to participate in Color Guard in order to perform with the Winter Guard.

Students would still be able to earn a physical education credit for participating in marching band, Killinger said.

Intermediate school compliant, state says

On Feb. 22, Brown County Intermediate School was randomly selected to have an on-site review of all its emergency preparedness and school safety measures by the Indiana Department of Education.

The school is compliant, Superintendent Laura Hammack reported at the March 1 Brown County School Board of Trustees meeting.

The review covered incidents such as an active shooter, bad weather and chemical spills. The IDOE told administrators that the school is in line with standards set forth under Indiana law.

Hammack said the confirmation was timely, coming just after 17 people were killed in a high school shooting in Florida, and after the school board approved a bond that will be used to fund building security upgrades.

“We are not OK with just this (report). We have a lot of work to do in school safety. We are super committed to getting that done and the bond dollars will help us with that work,” Hammack said.

School board approves donations, bus route extensions

The Brown County School Board of Trustees approved the following during their March 1 meeting:

• A $500 donation from Psi Iota Xi for Brown County High School marching band.
• Performance Services as the identified contractor for the upcoming building and security projects. This company will be responsible for bidding out the projects, Superintendent Laura Hammack said.
• Bus route extension for route 16, operated by Joey Dallas, for $32 per day, effective Feb. 23. This is to accommodate students who recently moved into the district, Hammack said.
• Bus route extension for route 24, operated by Dallas, for $63.38 per day, effective Feb. 19. This is to accommodate students who recently moved into the district, Hammack said.