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Students and band directors ask Horry County board to raise middle‑school fine arts funding; directors cite $5,000 budget frozen since 1996
Summary
Students and band directors told the board during public comment that middle‑school fine arts — especially band programs — lack sufficient funding, noting the middle‑school band budget has remained $5,000 since 1996; directors described broken instruments, repair backlogs and rising costs and urged the board to increase allocations.
Multiple public commenters urged the Horry County Board of Education to increase funding for fine arts programs, particularly middle‑school band and orchestra budgets.
Why it matters: band and orchestra directors said insufficient and stale budgets restrict students’ ability to participate, force schools to borrow or defer repairs and limit access for students who cannot rent instruments privately.
Seventh‑grade student Natalie Stallone told the board that fine arts “give us a voice, a purpose, and a place to belong,” and argued that two semesters of arts education can improve performance in other subjects and teach workforce skills such as teamwork and responsibility. Stallone requested increased district funding for fine arts.
Band directors described immediate needs. Ocean Bay Middle School band director Martha Gasky said the middle‑school band budget has remained $5,000 since 1996, which adjusted for inflation would be more than $10,000 today. She said the current allocation must cover instrument purchases and repairs, sheet music, event registrations, mileage and other operating costs. Gasky described borrowing timpani from another school and being unable to supply a working trombone to a newly enrolled student because the program must prioritize urgent repairs.
Conway Middle School band and orchestra director Allison Webster, who said she once benefited from a rental instrument as a student, told the board that decades‑old school instruments are often held together with tape and that the current budget does not allow the program to grow as student interest rises. Webster said music education is a “lifeline for creativity, community, and confidence” and asked the board to adjust the middle‑school band budget to reflect current costs.
Board members did not act on funding requests during public comment; that subject will remain part of broader budget discussions now underway.
