Dexter Band Parents Petition School Board for New Uniforms

Parent volunteers with the Dexter Community Schools' band program are keeping their fingers crossed for new uniforms next year.

Displaying tattered, damaged uniforms to the Board of Education on Monday, parent Amy Laidlaw requested the board approve a budget for new uniforms and establish a uniform-replacement fund.

"The uniforms are 17 years old, and in some cases we're using duct tape to mend them," she said. "The zippers don't work, material is dry-rotting and the seventh-grade band sweaters are falling apart on the students."

Laidlaw said new replicas of the current uniforms would cost $600 apiece, while other new uniforms would cost around $400 each.

"I know finances are tight, but I also know that the band is known as 'the pride of Dexter' and our students shouldn't have to wear uniforms that have been used beyond their limit."

Francine Quail, a local band volunteer, agreed.

"Parents do a lot of work and they do the best they can to repair the uniforms year after year," she said. "We can't have a marching band without uniforms."

Laidlaw said the standard lifetime of a band uniform is 10 years.

Board Vice President Michael Wendorf said he would like to see the board approve funding for uniforms as soon as possible.

Superintendent Mary Marshall said the district's finance committee will review the district's equipment maintenance account—which has a $1.6 million fund balance and will receive another $150,000 this year—and will make a recommendation to the board at a future meeting.

"We have the ability to address this issue, but I want to review it in context with our other programs," trustee Dick Lundy said. "I want to make sure we're not leaving anyone out."

There are currently 188 members in the Dexter band, according to Laidlaw.

In other action:

• Jane Montero, an art teacher at , presented Motawi Tileworks in Ann Arbor a certificate of appreciation for assisting in a mural project with sixth-grade students in 2010. The students created a mural of tiles representing Egypt, China, Greece and India to coincide with their social studies program. Montero said the project taught students how to apply logic by turning their 2-D art renderings into 3-D art. "In 23 years of teaching, this has been one of the highlights," Montero said. "It couldn't have been done without the Motawi crew and our parents and community."