UIL 6A Area C 2025

[SharksAreCool]

  On 5/27/2025 at 6:59 PM, CosmicLimbo said:

Looks like the district is holding a meeting tomorrow about this. I know most people on here aren’t affiliated with Duncanville’s program but any support would be greatly valued and appreciated!

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It’s really good to know they’re including the family’s in this matter. I feel like not including the families would put them in a even worse situation, so it’s good to know they’re doing the right thing.

[bandsoflove]

  On 5/27/2025 at 6:59 PM, CosmicLimbo said:

Looks like the district is holding a meeting tomorrow about this. I know most people on here aren’t affiliated with Duncanville’s program but any support would be greatly valued and appreciated!

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If someone could update us on how the meeting went after today, it would help. So sad for Dville

[Tubalord11]

Any updates on D-ville?

[Xenon]

Hi, everybody!

As a deeply involved alumnus of Duncanville, I'd like to share with you the information that has been shared to the public (both the students/parents and community) so far in both the Mini Band Camp as well as at the Community Meeting with the Superintendent last night.

As was noted in the meeting notice above, Mrs. Paula Tagalos (the 2nd Director) is currently the Interim Director and all plans for the 2025 season are moving forward without any changes. No changes to Style, Design, Competition Schedule, etc.

During the Superintendent meeting, there were 120+ people that attended to hear what the district had to say and voice their own opinions, thoughts, and concerns. The general tone of the attendees was concern around the lack of transparency, suddenness, fear of the unknown future, and a demand for accountability in how the district has been treating the band program.

Part of the reality is that for legal reasons, any school district cannot discuss personnel decisions publicly, and so there is no way to help peoples' desire to know the full "why" of the situation. Another part of the reality is that the district cannot publicly discuss hiring decisions that have not yet been finalized, and so it is hard to help people with their fear of the future.

But, while discussing the future direction of the band and listening to the values that the students and parents want to see in the future Head Director, it became evident that the community and the district were aligned in who they both expect and want the future Head Director to be; Mrs. Paula Tagalos. The Superintendent could not come out and say it directly, but he was also unable to avoid hinting in that direction.

Again, nothing is changing and it is all but certain that there is no outside-hire coming in to take the Head Director position and change the band. The Drama has largely been due to the lack of transparency and poor and vague messaging about the situation that filled the students, parents, and community with fear, uncertainty, and doubt; and the Superintendent acknowledged and owned up to the districts errors in regard to the transparency and messaging.

[Tubalord11]

  On 5/29/2025 at 12:56 PM, Xenon said:

Hi, everybody!

As a deeply involved alumnus of Duncanville, I'd like to share with you the information that has been shared to the public (both the students/parents and community) so far in both the Mini Band Camp as well as at the Community Meeting with the Superintendent last night.

As was noted in the meeting notice above, Mrs. Paula Tagalos (the 2nd Director) is currently the Interim Director and all plans for the 2025 season are moving forward without any changes. No changes to Style, Design, Competition Schedule, etc.

During the Superintendent meeting, there were 120+ people that attended to hear what the district had to say and voice their own opinions, thoughts, and concerns. The general tone of the attendees was concern around the lack of transparency, suddenness, fear of the unknown future, and a demand for accountability in how the district has been treating the band program.

Part of the reality is that for legal reasons, any school district cannot discuss personnel decisions publicly, and so there is no way to help peoples' desire to know the full "why" of the situation. Another part of the reality is that the district cannot publicly discuss hiring decisions that have not yet been finalized, and so it is hard to help people with their fear of the future.

But, while discussing the future direction of the band and listening to the values that the students and parents want to see in the future Head Director, it became evident that the community and the district were aligned in who they both expect and want the future Head Director to be; Mrs. Paula Tagalos. The Superintendent could not come out and say it directly, but he was also unable to avoid hinting in that direction.

Again, nothing is changing and it is all but certain that there is no outside-hire coming in to take the Head Director position and change the band. The Drama has largely been due to the lack of transparency and poor and vague messaging about the situation that filled the students, parents, and community with fear, uncertainty, and doubt; and the Superintendent acknowledged and owned up to the districts errors in regard to the transparency and messaging.

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Thank you so much for this. While it’s unfortunate we won’t ever know, or at least not right now why Mr. Teal got let go, the least they can do is make Mrs. Tagalos the new head. Happy to hear it seems they’ll be staying as a corp style group. Thanks again to everyone for all the updates and for supporting this beloved program

[bandsoflove]

  On 5/29/2025 at 12:56 PM, Xenon said:

Hi, everybody!

As a deeply involved alumnus of Duncanville, I'd like to share with you the information that has been shared to the public (both the students/parents and community) so far in both the Mini Band Camp as well as at the Community Meeting with the Superintendent last night.

As was noted in the meeting notice above, Mrs. Paula Tagalos (the 2nd Director) is currently the Interim Director and all plans for the 2025 season are moving forward without any changes. No changes to Style, Design, Competition Schedule, etc.

During the Superintendent meeting, there were 120+ people that attended to hear what the district had to say and voice their own opinions, thoughts, and concerns. The general tone of the attendees was concern around the lack of transparency, suddenness, fear of the unknown future, and a demand for accountability in how the district has been treating the band program.

Part of the reality is that for legal reasons, any school district cannot discuss personnel decisions publicly, and so there is no way to help peoples' desire to know the full "why" of the situation. Another part of the reality is that the district cannot publicly discuss hiring decisions that have not yet been finalized, and so it is hard to help people with their fear of the future.

But, while discussing the future direction of the band and listening to the values that the students and parents want to see in the future Head Director, it became evident that the community and the district were aligned in who they both expect and want the future Head Director to be; Mrs. Paula Tagalos. The Superintendent could not come out and say it directly, but he was also unable to avoid hinting in that direction.

Again, nothing is changing and it is all but certain that there is no outside-hire coming in to take the Head Director position and change the band. The Drama has largely been due to the lack of transparency and poor and vague messaging about the situation that filled the students, parents, and community with fear, uncertainty, and doubt; and the Superintendent acknowledged and owned up to the districts errors in regard to the transparency and messaging.

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I'd like to express that regardless of why/how the transition came about; I know Mark Teal did try to give it his all in making the band what he envisioned.

Not to play devil's advocate, but before Mark had received the Head Band Director position there was many, many rumors that (and please take this with a grain of salt) allegedly the district had other head band director's in mind BUT ultimately wanted to give Mark Teal the position to see how his vision would shape the band's progress. They had a set number of years to give Mark Teal to "prove" he could take the band where it once was and where they wanted it to be compared to the bands in Hebron, Flower Mound, Vandegrift, etc. They favored Mark, because of his tenure with the band and being one of the only last band director's from the original glory days. Now, this was always up for discussion when the years went by...could he develop the band and make it what it once was or better...or would the band fade into the background?

Since, Mark had taken over the band they have slipped far below expectations from the district. They have missed competition finals due to low placements, the State Competition was missed for the first time since the 1980s under his direction, the smaller competitions that Duncanville has been attending have garnered them some Top Placements but at what cost? They are not competing against Bands of America competitors or UIL State Competitors and frankly it should’ve been easier wins but even in those categories it was lackluster.

Marching Band in Texas has improved significantly and I am not blaming everything on the direction of the head band director.

The district of Duncanville highly favors their sports teams such as Basketball and Football, but the wins in those categories prove their favoritism. If you want to be part of the District's budget, you have to prove that someone on the Dville Band Team can win... consistently.

This information was known before Mark Teal was hired as a head band director and the district's faith in Mark was weary because he had become the sole leader in developing the marching shows and commanding how the band looked on the field a few years before ever became Head Band Director and whether he knows it or not...the district was always watching since he began his creative directing in the band  

Prior to his direction, George Townsend (now passed away), was suppose to be the lead band director in charge of the future of Duncanville Band. He had many wins under his belt from small competitions to bigger competitions. His last show that he created was in 2016. Mark Teal created the programs from 2017 - Present, but ultimately what has happened now with the district pushing out Mark is what happened a bit with how the original set of band directors did with George before any changes came about.

I am hoping Mrs. Paula Tagalos is able to shape Duncanville Band into what the students and parents and former alumni can be proud of. Once again, I hope Mark can find his footing into another adventure and shape that band with a district that supports him fully. I think the time clock was running out for him ever since he started. It was more of a practice run and maybe Mrs. Paula Tagalos can lead this band into a great program and Duncanville will be in the discussions yet again.

***This information is not to be hateful or accusatory. Having information for years and seeing how it played out ultimately made me write this. I do wish the best for everyone.

[SharksAreCool]

The amount of director movement has been absolutely insane. The biggest bands it has impacted are Wax, Sachse, D-Ville, Pearce, and Berkner. 3-5 out of the ones I mentioned made state. This could lead to some interesting results.

[Tubalord11]

I do agree that it seems they have, especially post covid, other than 2022, have had shows that try to keep “traditional” marching band with the more “artsy” stuff we see today. And while the kids look and sound great, if they want to get back to their previous status, they will, at least imo, need to start heading in that direction. Again just a personal observation but some change was def needed to get back on top, so I do understand more now the reasoning, but still don’t like how they process with the situation.

[bandsoflove]

  On 5/29/2025 at 11:07 PM, Tubalord11 said:

I do agree that it seems they have, especially post covid, other than 2022, have had shows that try to keep “traditional” marching band with the more “artsy” stuff we see today. And while the kids look and sound great, if they want to get back to their previous status, they will, at least imo, need to start heading in that direction. Again just a personal observation but some change was def needed to get back on top, so I do understand more now the reasoning, but still don’t like how they process with the situation.

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Yes, the process wasn’t professional at all. I’m sure if they discussed this with the band families before the shake-up…it would’ve been taken well. Let’s hope for a future with Duncanville with lots of wins. 

[lost]

Duncanville stands as one of the most unique programs in Texas history. It’s good to hear they’re alright.