MFISD must approve funding for Chorale trip to White House
The trustees of the Marble Falls Independent School District must do everything in their power to ensure the 44-member Chorale has the funding to make the trip to the nation’s capital, including covering hotel costs, securing lodging, providing meals and getting them home again.
MFISD Superintendent Ryder Warren has called for a special board meeting 5:30 p.m. Monday to put a request for funding before the trustees.
Time is money, as they say, and choir director Bryce Gage and his students need to be focused on their practices, not finances.
Nothing like this has ever happened to the greater Marble Falls community, at least not in recent memory. This is a unique opportunity and a true honor that simply cannot be passed up.
The students must be allowed to perform in the White House.
The Daily Tribune strongly urges the School Board to approve that request as soon as possible. After all, Dec. 9 is not really that far away.
The invitation to perform at the White House is a defining moment for the students and patrons of MFISD. The School Board should approve the appropriate funding to allow these talented young representatives of the community to shine brightly in the nation’s capital.
Taking into account travel costs, the number of students going and hotel expenses inside the Beltway, the tally for the trip could easily reach $45,000.
Some may find that too steep a price to pay, even to sing to the president and a select audience at an invitation-only performance.
There is some legitimacy to their concerns, but it must be weighed against the social and historical relevance of the invitation and the performance.
It is true the nation and the Highland Lakes are in the midst of a deepening recession. On the local level, businesses are closing and unemployment is slowly rising. The school district itself is operating at a deficit budget.
Yet history has shown these challenges will pass; they are cyclical. But the invitation to perform at the White House is not; it is a once-in-a-lifetime event, something these children and the community may never get again.
Can the School Board allow this golden moment to slip away? History is about great moments, not petty details. And this is history.
For those who might express reservations about funding the choir trip, consider these talking points:
• MFISD might be operating at a deficit budget for now, but there is $10 million in the reserve fund; the district has even been criticized by the Texas Education Agency for having too much money. Besides, Warren is confident the district during this fiscal year will be in the black later.
• The Chorale simply doesn’t have the time or resources to raise the money for a White House trip on their own, at least not by Dec. 9. In addition, many of the children would never be able to afford the trip on their own anyway. They need the board’s assistance.
• The invitation helps put Marble Falls on the map. The White House made an exception and invited all 44 Chorale members, then changed rooms to accommodate the larger group.
• Under Gage’s leadership, the choir program has grown tremendously, from 19 students three years ago to about 140 today. Clearly this is a program that must be supported and allowed to flourish.
• The trip to D.C. should not be confused with a spring journey to Boston, which is being financed by the choir itself.
• A precedent has been set: The district spent nearly as much sending the varsity girls basketball team to two regional tournaments in San Antonio and the state tournament in Austin.
We understand the School Board has an obligation to wisely spend taxpayers’ money. But in an historical situation like this, most patrons of MFISD would agree this trip is too important to the community and the school to ignore.
Trustees, approve the funding for this trip. Let the students’ voices rise in the White House, and let the nation know how talented, exuberant and remarkable the children of the Marble Falls school district really are.