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Students and parents urge board to preserve Casa Grande Symphonic Band 0‑period
Summary
Students from Casa Grande High and parents told the board that converting Symphonic Band from a 0‑period to a regular period would force many high‑achieving students to trade music for AP classes, citing a petition of 25 of 35 students and data that many band students take at least one AP course.
Several Casa Grande students and parents asked the board to reverse a scheduling decision that would end Symphonic Band as a 0‑period. The students said the off‑period slot is essential for AP coursework, community college enrollment and jobs.
Alina Blasco, a rising senior, said band students organized a Google Form petition showing 25 of 35 students who would be enrolled next year prefer keeping band as a 0 period. "We planned our extracurriculars and configured our outside lives around the idea that we would have this class as a 0 period," she told the board, describing the scheduling disruption and citing that "92% of Symphonic Band students are taking at least one AP class."
Ella Hilstead, a junior and multi‑AP student, described how losing the 0 period would force students to give up band to take more rigorous classes that support college applications. Board members acknowledged the scheduling tradeoffs and asked staff to study the programmatic and counseling impacts; no policy change was made at the meeting.
