July 15th Board Meeting

Wade Hampton Marching Band

July 15, 2021 7 p.m.

Attendees: Joseph Richie, Alan Johnson, Karen Nelson, Phil Yanov, Megan Thomas

1. Recap of Tuesday night

   1. Eleven freshmen signed up for class, five freshmen have completed the form.

   2. For rebuilding purposes (this year only), concert band will be a marching band/concert band hybrid. We will try to recruit for next year.

   3. There was a 75% turnout Tuesday night.

   4. Six magnets were sold.

1. Summary of meeting with Dr. Grant and the bookkeeper on July 14, 2021

   1. Meeting with bookkeeper

      1. Student fees will either be paid through myschoolbucks or cash/check given to Mr. Richie.

      2. As for our accounting, money will never come back to us. It will go directly to the school. Karen never has to account for the money.

      3. Band will need some level of balance in the bank account because we need to file taxes and have to do an audit. This balance may need to be higher than originally talked about.

   2. Meeting with Dr. Grant

      1. Alan made it clear to him that the boosters desire to have continuity of band director. Parents are not feeling great about the constant turnover. This was biggest goal in the meeting.

      2. Dr. Grant stated he wants to see us have a strong band program and have clear lines of communication between the band and himself.

      3. The district has mandatory training for volunteer groups. Dr. Grant sent information to Alan and Karen. The training involves what the district wants to see from volunteer organizations. Alan will let us know when he receives more information.

      4. District does an audit of volunteer organizations every year. These consist of things like is the organization filing taxes every year and does the organization have bi-laws. The audit does not necessarily dig into how the organization is operating.

      5. Dr. Grant would like to know when we have our first meeting with parents. He would like to come speak with the group and try to inject some energy; show that the school supports the band.

      6. Mr. Richie is also going to invite Dr. Grant to speak at the community preview as well.

   3. Other

      1. Mr. Richie received an email Tuesday before the meeting stating that there was additional money from the district for the band.

      2. We have received two allotments of $6500, which went into the band budget. (This money is just for this season)

      3. All staff are paid for fall.

      4. Only check we have to be concerned about paying is Jay’s for winter guard

1. Future of Program

   1. As of right now, Mr. Richie teaches one band class, one or two sections of piano and one color guard class (Jay is the instructor).

   2. The future plan is to have two full size concert bands (top band and lower band), and either a class for jazz band that actually meets as a class and not outside of school or a full orchestra with winds, brass, percussion and strings (has spoken to Ms. Wines about this).

   3. Dr. Grant seemed excited about this. Said as soon as we have enough kids to register for additional electives they would hire a full-time piano teacher.

1. Band Camp

   1. Mr. Richie has schedules, fees breakdown, checklists, and general information to send to Shannon that can be sent out to parents in the next band email.

   2. Volunteers

      1. Morning volunteers- we are in good shape

      2. Afternoon volunteers - we need more

      3. Need volunteers for uniform fitting for the second week.

         1. 2 parents (maybe 3-4), with at least one who has done it before who can take the reigns.

         2. Volunteers need to be able to block out a couple days, morning or afternoon (would like the same volunteers every day).

   3. Food

      1. Food is lighter in the second week.

      2. Question was raised - is it snack food for morning or additional food that is stored to supplement dinner

      3. Alan offered to bring something one day for a mid morning snack.

      4. Mr. Richie added if anyone could bring oranges, apples, something quick and easy, it would be great.

   4. If there are any changes, Mr. Richie will let us know.

1. Fees

   1. Free and reduced students

      1. If a student is listed as free lunch, then they are not required to pay any sort of dues for activities. If listed as reduced, they are required to pay 50%.

      2. We do not have access to any of these students' names, but Dr. Grant can give us a percentage of the students in the band that are on those programs so we can figure out what percent monthly we can expect.

   2. Fee schedule

      1. Travel will hopefully disappear because the school does give fine arts a budget, although it is shared between all the fine arts programs.

      2. Staff is no longer existent, but money will still be brought in for things like Jay’s check in the winter and that kind of stuff, to get us a cushion during the winter season in case it's not a large program like it’s been in the past.

1. Payments

   1. Payment plan

      1. $125

      2. Due last Friday of every month starting in July.

   2. Payment methods

      1. Myschoolbucks

         1. Can be done after registration

         2. School still has some details to work out right now

      2. Cash or check

         1. Must be put in an envelope with the student's name and 2021 Marching Band Fees written on front.

         2. Checks must be made payable to Wade Hampton High School.

         3. Envelopes must be handed to Mr. Richie.

1. Fundraising

   1. 2019 Donor spreadsheet is in Google docs folder

   2. Question was raised - How much do we need this year?

      1. Mr. Richie needs to rework the budget with the new findings of money that has come in. Budget was based on 60 kids, $500 fees and no money. All of those factors have changed.

      2. In order to make this marching band season function, before any of the additional money, it looked like it was going to be about $30,000, and that was cutting some things, such as:

         1. We didn’t have to pay for music or copyright (both were $5000 a piece).

         2. Providing food at camp.

         3. Basically any extra expenditure.

      3. On average, looking at marching band years past, we have spent around $50,000 per season.

      4. The only other thing on the list would be regular wear and tear coverage for materials and purchasing new instruments.

         1. Priorities on the instrument list is a bassoon.

         2. School district has a rotating schedule where the high schools get money for new instruments and then the middle school the next year.

         3. The district gives $3000 for class materials. Mr. Richie has allotted $1000 of this for music and that kind of stuff. Will use the remaining $2000 plus any additional district money to purchase a bassoon. This will take place before Christmas break.

   3. Goal for this year is to make a spreadsheet with what we did, cost, what we made, etc. to build a historical record for what works and what doesn’t.

   4. Levels for Donations

      1. Question was raised - Do we need to have a $200 level? No one used it in 2019.

      2. We also need to figure out with Reggie what the situation is with banners in the stadium in terms of how they have happened in the past. Mr. Richie will take care of this.

      3. Question was raised - What does $1000 sponsorship level get me? It is not on the sheet.

      4. Alan and Phil will work through finalizing these levels.

1. Other Business

   1. Need to figure out when to have the first full booster club meeting.

      1. Bi-laws state we must do one in September.

      2. Would like to do one in August to get the new bi-laws handed out to everyone and be set to vote on them in September.

      3. Possible dates - August 5 (Mr. Richie thought there might be better attendance this night), or August 6th before the community preview.

   2. Need to give some top line financial details at every meeting (Alan and Karen will work on this).

      1. What’s being donated.

      2. What’s been spent

      3. Financial transparency

   3. Mr. Richie is working on Middle School Night, more details to come.

Submitter of minutes: Megan Thomas