2019 BOA Austin

[FEDude]

Money deciding a band's success. As much as I don't want to believe it, it's largely true.

 

A lot of bands will talk about community support and hard work in their fundraising. They work hard, and nobody doubts that. There is no doubting, however, that the "top groups" are from the nicer neighborhoods in their cities.

 

Of course there are exceptions, and boy do people love to talk about those suddenly whenever this topic gets brought up.

 

If anyone wants to talk about it, my senior year, I did a big project on why the infrastructure and drainage systems in San Antonio are bad everywhere minus the Northside and how that contributes to the very serious segregation problem in San Antonio.

[FEDude]

Of course, the programs that have success and don't have the funds are inspirational. And of course not all who are part of an award winning program are trillionaires.

[BlueCircle]

Regarding money, I thought this was REALLY interesting.

 

https://twitter.com/momentsboa/status/1177591716083167232?s=21

[FEDude]

That was really interesting. I didn't know Stoneman Douglass was a top band either.

 

I'd wanna see the list for all the SA bands. It should be public info so it would only take an hour. An interesting subject to study and an angle I never considered my senior year.

[LHSbandDad]

And having parents who are incredible fundraisers helps too. Also, each band family at Leander is on the hook for $1400 for each kiddo in band who’s going to Grand Nats. That’s over and above the regular band fees. Lastly, the decision to attend Grand Nats is made as a band family, not someone with fat pockets.

 

I resent this remark highly and I think VERY highly of the Dripping Springs program. Always have.

I completely agree!!  It is up to us to come up with the money to pay the $1,400 to get our kids to Indy to attend GN above the normal band fees.  There is no big corporate sponsor or district money or tax bond passed to support our band to go to this.  I can not speak for other programs in other parts of the country, but for Leander (and by default most likely Vandy and Cedar Park) there is no school district money helping us get to Indy.  Now we have an excellent and creative band booster program and incredible march a thon fund raisers and things like that but nothing like what is being described above where money just falls into our lap.

 

Having said all that, and getting back to the OP question....I would have to imagine the decision from the director comes down to a simple R.O.I. calculation.  Is the program on the rise and does it have a legitimate shot to semis and/or finals or not?  If not, then it probably is not worth all the money it will take to make the trip.  In our case, we were on the rise and our director felt like we had a chance and he talked to to boosters and the parents and we all agreed to do it.  Things went better than we could ever have imagined in 2016 and so here we are going back again in 2019.  Can't wait!!

[DRbandDAD]

And having parents who are incredible fundraisers helps too. Also, each band family at Leander is on the hook for $1400 for each kiddo in band who’s going to Grand Nats. That’s over and above the regular band fees. Lastly, the decision to attend Grand Nats is made as a band family, not someone with fat pockets.

 

I resent this remark highly and I think VERY highly of the Dripping Springs program. Always have.

Believe me ma'am, we are great fund raisers here in Del Rio,TX as well, the only difference is that our fund raising only yield between one to two thousand a pop. If I recall correctly on one of the topics in this forum, one of the Austin schools made $40k on one fund raiser alone. You shouldn't feel resentful about my comment, if you do, I apologize. It is the truth though....

 

Regarding money, I thought this was REALLY interesting.

 

https://twitter.com/momentsboa/status/1177591716083167232?s=21

 

P.S. I am a fan of the Dripping Springs program as well!

[LeanderMomma]

DRbandDad is from Del Rio.

Well I like them too.

[LeanderMomma]

I remember in 2013 when we only raised about 20 grand and we were excited about that. Now we raise over a hundred grand and my mind is blown.

 

Success breeds success.

[FEDude]

Nobody doubts the hard work and individual talent that goes into producing a memorable show.

 

It would be interesting to see a spreadsheet of every band participating in BOA SA and the income. It's mostly public knowledge. It would give me something to do while I wait to go back to Peru.

[LeanderMomma]

Regarding money, I thought this was REALLY interesting.

 

https://twitter.com/momentsboa/status/1177591716083167232?s=21

Interesting indeed. Especially knowing how many Austin area people think Leander is lower demographic. Not so much!

 

I retract my statement. These bands have money.

[FEDude]

Another factor in success is Middle School bands. I hated being in band in middle school, but I loved loved loved it in high school.

[principalagent]

Those figures are interesting, but don’t tell the full story at all on income. You have to consider the specific geography in question.

 

Flower Mound and Vista Ridge should go up, and Marcus and Cedar Park down even though they’re in the same city. Vandegrift and Westlake would at least double, and Bowie would go up at least 50%. Reagan and CTJ would both at least double, and CTJ might get close to triple the San Antonio figure. Homestead and Park Vista also would both stand to go up since they’re only pulling from the wealthiest parts of their cities. Timber Creek’s value is a lot closer to Keller’s. Cedar Ridge pulls from probably the wealthiest part of that district (although Avery Ranch might actually skew the calculus in Round Rock’s favor).

 

A better test would be to use the home zip code of each school. Additionally, some states publish median income data for a given school.

[BlueCircle]

Those figures are interesting, but don’t tell the full story at all on income. You have to consider the specific geography in question.

 

Flower Mound and Vista Ridge should go up, and Marcus and Cedar Park down even though they’re in the same city. Vandegrift and Westlake would at least double, and Bowie would go up at least 50%. Reagan and CTJ would both at least double, and CTJ might get close to triple the San Antonio figure. Homestead and Park Vista also would both stand to go up since they’re only pulling from the wealthiest parts of their cities. Timber Creek’s value is a lot closer to Keller’s. Cedar Ridge pulls from probably the wealthiest part of that district (although Avery Ranch might actually skew the calculus in Round Rock’s favor).

 

A better test would be to use the home zip code of each school. Additionally, some states publish median income data for a given school.

I noticed that too. The person that made that obviously didn’t understand Texas cities!

[bruhmomentum]

Those figures are interesting, but don’t tell the full story at all on income. You have to consider the specific geography in question.

 

Flower Mound and Vista Ridge should go up, and Marcus and Cedar Park down even though they’re in the same city. Vandegrift and Westlake would at least double, and Bowie would go up at least 50%. Reagan and CTJ would both at least double, and CTJ might get close to triple the San Antonio figure. Homestead and Park Vista also would both stand to go up since they’re only pulling from the wealthiest parts of their cities. Timber Creek’s value is a lot closer to Keller’s. Cedar Ridge pulls from probably the wealthiest part of that district (although Avery Ranch might actually skew the calculus in Round Rock’s favor).

 

A better test would be to use the home zip code of each school. Additionally, some states publish median income data for a given school.

Cedar Ridge is sort of an anomaly since we pull the majority of our band students from Ridgeview Middle School which pulls from three fairly wealthy neighborhoods in Round Rock. Our second feeder, CD Fulkes, comes from a lower income area and has underfunded extracurriculars which lowers the amount of participation in the arts over there. This partially explains the lower amount of students that do marching band over here.

[FEDude]

When I was 14, I asked someone from Austin what the most dangerous part of the city was. She swore it was Westlake. I went on believing her for 3 years.

 

Then my sister moved to Austin and I asked her about Westlake. She started laughing at me and said it's a relatively nice part of town.

[LeanderMomma]

It’s funny how we stereotype people based on what city they live in.

[principalagent]

When I was 14, I asked someone from Austin what the most dangerous part of the city was. She swore it was Westlake. I went on believing her for 3 years.

 

Then my sister moved to Austin and I asked her about Westlake. She started laughing at me and said it's a relatively nice part of town.

Westlake might be dangerous to someone from Tarrytown or Rollingwood or Bee Cave I guess

[CTJBandPops]

Those figures are interesting, but don’t tell the full story at all on income. You have to consider the specific geography in question.

 

Flower Mound and Vista Ridge should go up, and Marcus and Cedar Park down even though they’re in the same city. Vandegrift and Westlake would at least double, and Bowie would go up at least 50%. Reagan and CTJ would both at least double, and CTJ might get close to triple the San Antonio figure. Homestead and Park Vista also would both stand to go up since they’re only pulling from the wealthiest parts of their cities. Timber Creek’s value is a lot closer to Keller’s. Cedar Ridge pulls from probably the wealthiest part of that district (although Avery Ranch might actually skew the calculus in Round Rock’s favor).

 

A better test would be to use the home zip code of each school. Additionally, some states publish median income data for a given school.

the median income, school demographics such as race and test results, SAT scores and overall graduation rates are all public information. I know this as I have used it for years to apply for grants to support our program.

 

I am not sure how we went from talking about BOA Austin to the perceived wealth of Texas schools. but O.K. - here goes

 

as someone who has been moved around Texas by my employer for the past 20 years, I can tell you this there is no district that has abundant wealth for everyone in it. I have lived within the boundaries of Coppell, Flowermound, Marcus, Hebron, and CTJ - and with the exception of Coppell - most also have plenty of apartments or lower end rentals and thus a transient population that does not have the disposable income. in some cases you have families that will move or rent in a district to send their child to a school that has a program to will foster their child's talent or provide them an opportunity to participate or compete at the highest level. Even in the nicer neighborhood, you may have folks living in a nice house that just does not have the funds to support the costs of an aggressive band program - San Antonio is known as Military City USA - CTJ is close to many military bases and has a great number of active duty families where some find the program cost prohibitive.

 

to the original question - the director generally proposes a trip to GN, Rose Parade, etc...but the band community decides if they can or will support such a trip. 

 

it does not matter where your school is - there are students on reduced or free lunch programs - don't assume that every school that has some nice neighborhoods has money to burn. 

 

I am sure that there are some current political candidates that will create a plan for Grand Nats for everyone!!

[LeanderMomma]

I just think it’s awesome that parents will do whatever it takes to get their kid into a successful school district, and that in Texas, it’s mostly possible to do so.

[LHSax]

We interrupt this financial conversation for a few super late thoughts about BOA Austin-

 
Unfortunately had to miss most of prelims, but caught most of finals and filled in the gaps with the Tube yesterday. (side note - love the video entitled "Bowie BOA Austin Karaoke Version"  )
 
Don’t know if BOA heard the complaints from last year, but wow this judging panel was pretty impressively consistent. Besides the jostling of the 8-10 spots, the top 7 remained the same. Even between captions there is very little range of ordinals in both finals and prelims. The judges all generally agreed where these bands ranked Saturday night, so while there were some surprising results, it's hard to argue with them.
 
The 6 min rule didn’t really effect the finals breakline, but I really don’t agree with this rule. I guess the concept is that a band can’t somehow perfect a 3 min show and expect to have an advantage, but I really can’t see any group intentionally doing that, and it’s just as drastic of a strategy as CTJ plowing through to get their entire show on the field. Bands should have the opportunity to get as much show on the field as their comfortable with, and scores will naturally reflect this without a completely unnecessary penalty policy.
 
This competition really needed some fresh finals blood, as it’s typically been the usual 8-9, and then a last spot or 2 for rotating other bands. Unfortunately getting new bands means some of the consistent finalists have to be left out, and if I had to pick a few bands that were most vulnerable, Round Rock and Hendrickson, as consistent as they have been, were top choices. At first I wondered if the early start time got them, but Rouse managed to emerge from that same block, and the judges got a very direct comparison. I don’t think it’s time to hit the panic button yet for Round Rock, but this will certainly be quite the hurdle to overcome for a band trending in the wrong direction.

Congrats of course go out to the new finalists! Rouse was very much expected by many on this board, Westwood has been knocking on the door for a while, but Lake Travis was the real stunner here. Maybe it’s because they don’t seem to have much representation on this board to build up hype? (Congrats to those who may be lurking!) To not just slip into finals but to BURST into finals at this competition is no small feat. Will be very interesting to see how this show stacks up in the rest of the season and if this is the beginning of a new Lake Travis era.

Cedar Park will win the 5A state title until they move up to 6A or a 6A finalist moves down 5A. There I said it. This show is exactly what the doctor ordered after last years down season. But please please please lose the narration. The show simply doesn’t need it. The drill is so well written to express this theme that the narration really ruins what is a very well composed show. I know it probably stays in, and I’ll still love the show, but I can dream.

Vista Ridge is exactly where it needs to be. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, it takes a lot of guts to completely overhaul a design staff that won you a state title. Besides the fact that they’re spinning a lot again, I wouldn’t recognize this as the same band at all from last year (and not just due to the new uniforms). The fact that they’ve remade themselves and are still right up there with the big dogs where they were last year, is a perfect start to proving last year wasn’t just a one off. They aren’t relying on being the crowd favorite underdog, which is huge in proving they’re here to stay. I agree with others in that I think the soprano sax (as amazing as she is) carries the show a bit too much, but I think that will be justified a bit the more the character is flushed out. I think it's a really uniquely composed show and we all know what VR is capable of doing throughout a season.

Plenty has been said about CTJ’s prop heroics (seriously - how did they pull that off???) but the fact is they were a solid 3rd in both prelims and the extra adventurous finals. I was always surprised more bands didn’t try the full early show approach due to their success with it over the past few years, but this may finally prove to be why this doesn’t always work out. I still think this is a heck of a vehicle, and will only obviously get better (better the prop mistake now than later in the year). Still think it will be my favorite CTJ show by the end of the year, but maybe that’s just cuz I’m a sucker for the Lion King score.
 
Leander winning visual was a surprise to me at first, but in retrospect makes a lot of sense, and bodes really well for the rest of their season. There is A LOT happening in this show visually, but when you break it down, it’s all being done VERY well and it all really adds to the the theme of the show. Having a rapidly improving guard also helps a lot. I think this show still has a lot of potential to grow, but it will really need to get an exclamation point in the closer for me to be completely sold that this thing could medal. There's still some brass licks in the opener that are kicking their butt, and the ballad isn't quite doing it for me (yet), but all the pieces are there for this to be special come Indy.

I made a post earlier where I said this was CTJ's to lose, and then I finally saw a video of Vandy and immediately doubted that comment. I'm still extremely torn on whether this is a show that is peaking too soon, or if this will be a show that is near impossible to beat. Then again I've doubted Vandy in the past when they win early, and they only end up somehow getting cleaner. I've been one of the many who have been vocal about the lack of difficult of their drill in the past, but I feel this year is actually a great step in the right direction. I don't buy the "but the dance team will hold them back" argument. They add so much to this show that it’s impossible to fault this increasingly more unique aspect to the band. I do think it will prevent them from beating the Carmel's of the world in Indy, as the dance teams are even less prevalent outside of Texas, but don't think it will prevent them from picking up hardware by any means. I was gonna say that musically this show might not lose the music caption all year, but then I remembered the brief Hebron clip that surfaced earlier in the year and will correct that statement to, this show won't finish outside the top 2 in music.

 

Really hard to predict how the big 4 here will shake out over the next month. I think (hope?) there's a good chance we see them all in the top half of SA finals once again, and I don't think they get held off the podium this year, but we'll know more after this next weekend.

[ctex1994]

Yea that money chart is misleading and incorrect It is just considering the income of the entire city. When it comes to bands IN the city of Austin (Westlake, bowie, and vandegrift) these are all in the super nice parts of Austin, where the houses are bigger and incomes bigger. Westlake and vandegrift and Lake Travis  are all on the west side of Austin, which is one of the wealthiest communities in Texas. 

[CTJBandPops]

Yea that money chart is misleading and incorrect It is just considering the income of the entire city. When it comes to bands IN the city of Austin (Westlake, bowie, and vandegrift) these are all in the super nice parts of Austin, where the houses are bigger and incomes bigger. Westlake and vandegrift and Lake Travis  are all on the west side of Austin, which is one of the wealthiest communities in Texas. 

if we look at the % of students living in Poverty by District according to the SAIPE data (2016 most recent data available)

San Felipe-Del Rio - includes Del Rio HS  30%

Austin ISD - includes Bowie 17% 

NEISD - includes CTJ, Reagan, and Churchill  12%

Conroe ISD - Includes TWHS and TW-CP  11%

Lewisville ISD - includes FloMo, Marcus and Hebron  8%

Round Rock ISD - includes CR, McNeil, Westwood and Stoney Point   6%

Coppell ISD - includes Coppell 6%

Leander ISD - includes CP, Glenn, Leander, Rouse, Vandy, Vista Ridge  5%

 

food for thought...

[TWHSParent]

Having money allows a program to focus on getting stuff done. They don't have to worry as much about how to afford to get stuff done. Money alone is not sufficient to have success, but it certainly does act as a good lubricant to turn the wheels a little easier.

 

I would also point out that median rather than average is probably a better statistic. Some places may have enclaves of senior corporate executives or old money areas that can really skew averages.

[zoomer]

Any thoughts on John Horn?

 

I was kind of surprised with the low placement

[BlueCircle]

Any thoughts on John Horn?

 

I was kind of surprised with the low placement

I heard something about a staff change. They still played with confident sounds but it was overall a messy performance probably caused by mediocre design and leadership.