Hempfield board members hope to set precedent with decision on band trip - TribLIVE

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Despite their major fundraiser in limbo, members of the Hempfield Area Marching Band could be encouraged to raise money for a proposed trip to Nashville in the spring.

However, the trip that might be nixed by school board members depending on the state of the coronavirus pandemic at the time.

During a committee of the whole meeting this week, school board members discussed plans for the trip, which would replace one originally planned to Hawaii. A specific date for the Nashville trip was not determined, but band leaders submitted plans on how to social distance on buses and cutting the number of students per hotel room in half.

“I want to commend the individuals that are involved in the planning, certainly you’re going to see there’s a lot of attention to detail looking at cancellation policies and all the safety factors,” Superintendent Tammy Wolicki told board members Monday. “They even included if a student becomes ill, what are the considerations.”

But, given the uncertainty of the pandemic and regulations in place during the coming months, school leaders expressed concerns with approving the trip. Instead, they proposed ideas that will be taken back to band leaders, including scaling back the trip to just seniors, drastically cutting the number of people involved.

While a motion for the trip was not put in front of the board, members decided to hold off on voting until the last possible day to see what regulations are in place at that time. Because a vote will not be taken for several months, band members are encouraged to fundraise for the trip in case it is approved.

“If we give them the OK to start trying to raise the money, if they can do it safely, a lot of things are going to change by next March,” said board president Tony Bompiani. “A lot of things. … It would be tragic to decide now when all we have to do is tell them yes, raise money, but if it’s dangerous, we’re not going to approve it when the time comes.”

Most board members agreed on the plan, which will be passed along to band leaders and also set precedent for other organizations looking to plan trips this school year.

For the band, however, its major fundraiser — sub sales — remains in limbo as leaders work to create a plan that will allow them to make the subs while adhering to gathering limitations put in place by Gov. Tom Wolf. Typically, more than100 parents and students gather in the high school cafeteria to make the subs, which are distributed later that day.

Only three sub sales were completed this year, prior to stay-at-home orders going into effect this spring. Band leaders are working on plans that would allow the fundraiser to resume, none of which have been approved at this time. They area relying on smaller fundraisers to continue raising money.

“I think, if we wait too long, if we have to say no, I think it would be harder on them because they’re planning for it,” board member Diane Ciabattoni said of the trip. “I think this stinks. It really upsets me that we can’t give these students what we all want to, but we’re responsible and I have a real hard time taking a chance with any one of them and I think this would be taking a chance.”

Megan Tomasic is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 724-850-1203, mtomasic@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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