Marching band urged for Portsmouth high school

PORTSMOUTH

Students at Wilson High School can perform in a steel pans ensemble, a jazz band and a concert band - but not a marching band, and at least one School Board member says that's a problem.

Mark Whitaker would like to require that Wilson have a high-stepping marching band. The same would be required at the city's other high schools, unless they provide a compelling reason against it.

Wilson is the city's only high school without a marching band. I.C. Norcom High's band performs the high-stepping style. Churchland High does corps style. High step is described as a high-energy style of marching, while corps is more about precision.

Whitaker says the administration should have made certain Wilson had a marching band, so "if it's not going to be done by the administration, the board has to step in." He said a policy is needed "to correct a serious issue that's going on in the school system."

In a document shared with board members earlier this year, Wilson Principal Timothy E. Johnson said the school does not have an outpouring of community support and that students don't ask for a marching band. This week, Superintendent David Stuckwisch said Wilson is moving toward establishing a marching band but couldn't specify when it could happen.

All public high schools in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk and Virginia Beach have marching bands, according to their spokespeople.

In Portsmouth, Whitaker plans to inquire about the progress on the marching band issue again at tonight's board meeting. It has come up at several meetings this year, prompting some, including Chairman James Bridgeford, to ask, "Why?"

"It hasn't been an issue in the past," Bridgeford said recently. "I don't know why it's one now."

Whitaker cites the dropout problem in the division, where state statistics show about 1 in 5 students drop out.

Whitaker says a high-stepping band could build school spirit and provide a reason to graduate for students who otherwise might leave. He concedes it wouldn't be a cure-all but says the division needs to think outside the box.

At the board's April 28 meeting, Whitaker admonished the board to "stop being tied up in our own cultural lack of sensitivity." He argues that high-stepping is part of African American culture and that to attract students in Portsmouth's largely African American division to participate in marching band, high-stepping should be the norm. African Americans make up about 70 percent of the division's K-12 students.

At the April meeting, board member Keith Nance Sr. said Whitaker's proposal smacks of micromanaging and that, while it attempts to be sensitive to one community, it winds up being insensitive to another.

In the midst of the recent talks, two board members drafted a marching band policy for the board to review.

"A marching program is offered to the students of all Portsmouth high schools," the draft states. "The choice of a marching style (i.e. corps/military, high stepping) and the exact composition of the band should take into consideration the following: community expectations, intended performance venues and audiences, and available resources."

Last week, several Wilson students expressed opinions from not caring at all for a marching band to loving the idea.

Paul Canady, a freshman who said he's a football player, said such a band, regardless of style, would motivate the team.

Said Crystal Marin, a senior: "If there was a marching band, I would have joined it for sure."

Claude Parent, one of the board members tasked with drafting the policy, said he thinks the board should "direct the superintendent to make sure that all three high schools have a marching band, period," but that style should not be dictated.

Board member Ernest L. Reid Jr., the other policy-drafter, favors a high-stepping style because of the division's demographics but has said he doesn't think the board would approve a policy that specifies a marching style.

Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com