By Katrina Vander Kooi, summer intern
Tuesday night the Hills-Beaver Creek Board accepted the resignation of the vocal and instrumental teacher, Dawn Griepp.
The vote was five to one with Alan Harnack being the only dissenter. Board Member Rollie Crawford was not present for the vote.
Many concerned parents came to the meeting to show their support for the music program.
Bob Sandbulte was the spokesman, and he voiced concerns about the quality of the music department. Sandbulte interviewed 19 band parents concerning this, and he "got an ear full" of information.
Among those 19, only one parent was pleased with the Griepp. Sandbulte handed out a sheet full of comments from the survey.
The survey showed that the parents were not just blaming the teacher. They were also blaming the school district.
"My kids are artists not athletes," one parent wrote. Sandbulte expressed his concern about the district's lack of support for the music program.
"We are losing students this year partly because of the music program," Sandbulte said.
One parent recalled an incident last year at homecoming when the band students were not acknowledged with the rest of the sports activities. "We need to draw more attention to our band," she said.
Parents also brought up scheduling problems that students have with band. "To do industrial arts, you have to drop band," one parent said.
Board member Ann Boeve suggested that band be a zero-hour class that would meet before school, but this idea was not well-received.
Another suggestion was that Hills Beaver Creek share a band director with another school district in order to keep a more qualified teacher.
"You get a good program, and you get pride and students will want to participate," one parent said.
Overall, the group emphasized the need for a stronger commitment to music by students and the administration.
In other business, Monday the board:
oApproved Jolene Hannett as the new area school psychologist. She is contracted to work in the Ellsworth and Adrian school districts along with Hills-Beaver Creek for the 2001/2002 school year.
oVoted 6-1 to cancel a dance taking place in the high school gym this Friday. The dance was being put on by a group of students in order to help pay for the damage the students had done on a school track trip to Sturgis, SD.
Many of the Board members believed that this was an improper use of the school's facilities.
oAdopted the negotiations settlement for the 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 school years. One of the main changes in the contract was the severance plan. The district is now using an investment system instead of severance packages. The current retiring teachers will have a choice whether to use this system or not, but "for new teachers this is this only option," said Board member Gary Esselink.
oDiscussed OSHA violations. "On a scale from 1 to 10, our district is in the middle," said Superintendent Tom Knoll. The concerns by the agency ranged from machine hazards to air quality problems.
oSet the next board meeting for June 12. One item on the agenda will be a possible dress code for students for graduation.