To the editor:

This letter is in response to criticisms of the decision made by the Free State High School band director not to have the band play in the KU Band Day parade. As one of the FSHS parents who waited in the rain for an hour thinking that a decision had been made to have FSHS and LHS play at the end of the parade rather than after Kansas University, I was of course disappointed. But band instruments are extremely expensive, and in the current climate of fiscal crisis I cannot imagine what would happen if district-owned instruments had to be repaired or replaced.

I CAN imagine what would happen if parents had to replace damaged student-owned or rented band instruments an outcry. People have to make decisions, and often decisions have to be made between two difficult choices, as in this instance. It is time to stop blaming the band director, and try to rebuild our schools’ fiscal safety net.

Carol Warren,

Lawrence