The school band won't play at a presidential visit. District officials say
By BILL VARIAN
Published October 30, 2004
it would violate policy.
TAMPA - Members of the Plant High School band learned late Wednesday that they would get to play before a very important guest this weekend.
President Bush is planning one last campaign stop in Tampa, at Legends Field on Sunday. The head of the band's boosters has a friend with the campaign who asked if the band would perform. Within an hour, the deal was done.
But as the band practiced Hail to the Chief Friday morning, Plant principal Eric Bergholm interrupted class to inform students that the performance was off. School district policy forbids the use of school bands in campaign events unless all candidates are involved.
Now some parents say they are upset their children will miss a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"I think it's mean and rotten and terrible for the kids," said Linda Tanner, whose son Alex, a ninth-grader, plays trumpet in the band. "Some kids had a wonderful opportunity to play and perform and show their talent to the president of the United States."
She said her opinion would be the same if John Kerry were president and it was his event.
"It wouldn't matter, in my opinion, if Mickey Mouse were in there," Tanner said.
Hillsborough schools spokesman Mark Hart said the policy is long-standing and gets invoked, it seems, every campaign season. Education is a volatile and important public issue, he said, so public schools don't want to risk appearing partisan.
"What I don't think the average person realizes is how political the world of education has become," Hart said. "We have to be as apolitical as possible."
He said the Kerry campaign was told this week it could not use the Jefferson High School gymnasium for a campaign event.
Each election year brings new examples.
The Hillsborough School Board filed a protest two years ago after the president's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, visited Wimauma Elementary School for a ceremonial bill signing. The school district said it was a campaign stop that violated the district's policy.
Four years ago, the school district turned down a request by then-candidate George W. Bush to have the Bloomingdale High School band play for him. In 1998, the district said no when one of its own board members wanted to use the photo of a school as the background for a campaign brochure.
District officials decide what is political and what isn't based on whether the request comes from a politician's office or from their campaign, Hart said. Principals received a letter two months ago emphasizing the policy.
"We feel it was an oversight on the principal's part," Hart said. "They get a lot of information from us. They're rightly focused on teaching and the schools."
Bergholm could not be reached Friday for comment.
Hart said the school district learned of the band's plans after a parent complained. Jeanne Rowe, president of the band boosters, said she got four complaints from parents after she organized the appearance.
Rowe said she spoke with all but one of the parents, and their concerns seemed to ease when she emphasized the band's appearance was not meant as a political statement, but as a chance to perform for a sitting president.
"I understand where they're coming from with that policy," said Rowe, whose daughter Jenna, a senior, plays flute. "But you're playing for the president of the United States."
One of the parents who called Rowe said the planned performance was still inappropriate for children at a public school.
"If he had been here two years ago opening a hospital wing or signing a bill into law, that would be one thing," said the parent, who declined to be identified because she feared reprisal against her daughter. "I didn't want there to be the perception that it's a political endorsement one way or the other."
Many band members expressed disappointment as they emerged from practice Friday evening. They said they didn't think performing for Bush was a political statement.
Kim Oural, 18, a drum major, said she has registered as an independent for her first election. She called the cancellation "crushing."
"Normally I don't speak my views," she said. "But this was a chance to possibly meet the president of the United States, regardless of who he is."
Some students said they support the decision, even though that may not be a popular view.
Band Captain Jasmine Campbell, 17, a senior and tenor saxophone player, said she didn't see any harm, but she didn't think it was right, either.
As a captain, she said, she would have felt compelled to perform, although the band director told students they could skip the event.
"The day we were going to do it was two days before the election," she said. "We're a public school that uses public money. I just don't think, as a public school, we should be endorsing a presidential candidate."
The president will, however, have a school band at his campaign event Sunday.
Gordon MacLeod, head of the private Tampa Preparatory School, said Friday that the Tampa Prep band has accepted an invitation to play at the rally.
