Help us fix our tubas?

[derrenba]

There should be a repair budget. If it is blown by month 9 it wasn't used accordingly.

Maybe your school district does things differently, but around here the SCHOOL YEAR beings the Thurs before Labor Day, but the FISCAL YEAR begins July 1, so nine months into the SCHOOL YEAR (which also happens to be the last month of the school year) is 11 months into the FISCAL YEAR.

Lots of schools here have instruments repaired over the summer.

In other words, during the part of the FISCAL YEAR that is NOT part of the SCHOOL YEAR.

Around here, the vast majority of instrument repairs take place in July/Aug (the first two months of the FISCAL year) and during "marching"--aka, football--season, so most band programs start the SCHOOL year with a significant chunk of their repair budget already spent, and it's not at all unusual for the repair budget to be used up nine months into the SCHOOL year.

[tubaforce]

Hi!
I feel for you, but at least your School owns instruments! Many( especially smaller) Districts in the Northwest(Oregon, Washington) Have ZERO money to maintain their inventories! In fact, they're LUCKY music is available at all! If there is no money for repairs, you need to drag your parents to a Scool Board meeting, and POLITELY(yet FIRMLY) COMPLAIN! Traditionally, even small Schools budgeted money specifically for regular maintennance and overhaul of instruments the School was expected to provide(Tubas, Baritones, Baritone Sax, Bassoon, String Bass...), and money for new uniforms and instruments! Budget cutters love to hit Music programs that have a revolving door for teachers!!! Why would a teacher fight for a program someone else will be stuck with the following year? And once you give money up, it takes an act of God to get it back! Look at how many Band programs start kids in the 6th or 7th grade these days, and Elementary music is totally gone! The only thing that can save music is for kids and parents to GET INVOLVED! Go to those board meetings with as many folks as you can muster!

Good luck,
Al

[DevilDog-2013]

Great news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One guy took a tuba and a sousa to the shop today (the day of our biggest performance). And guess what?! We got the tuba fixed for free! It turns out the vavle guide was just turned! The sousa's vavles are shot, it's getting fixed for around 50 bucks.
So we all had working tubas for the concert!
And it turns out, we can only hold the drummers accountable for 2 tubas: the Miraphone which is done for anyways, and the sousa which I fixed.

Problem solved,
Thanks for all the replies!

Erica

[Elbee]

That IS Great News... Best wishes for a fine tuba future..