District leaders told the Roswell Independent School District board Aug. 12 that central funding for music has increased in recent years and that the district used federal grant money to purchase new instruments and percussion equipment for middle and high school programs.
Superintendent Luck said the central operational budget for music was about $44,000 prior to 2022 and has been increased in recent years; he and other staff said the district now budgets about $130,000 annually for music operations and that an additional roughly $420,000 in federal grant money has been used for instrument purchases for band and orchestra programs.
Staff described the normal rotation for high-school marching-band uniforms as roughly every 10 years (some programs run 5 610 years depending on funding), and that a recent purchase had included about 100 uniforms for roughly $60,000 in a prior cycle. The board discussed that a full new uniform program for a high school, accounting for more sizes and inflation, could reach a six-figure total in current dollars.
Why it matters: the board was discussing district support for music programs after concerns about equipment, uniforms and student fundraising. District staff described a mix of central funding, grant money and school-level operational money used to repair instruments and buy new equipment.