Changes are coming to the Galesburg High School Band program, but some are being called ” premature rumors”at this point.
It was announced at a special 205 Board meeting in March that current Director of Bands Brianne Hankes would be reassigned to teach English and that Fine Arts Coordinator Dean Petrie would step in as director.
Petrie has confirmed the band will not be attending the parade and field show competition at the University of Illinois that they have in past years, due to a Mar. 1 deadline that was missed in the middle of the 205 budget reduction talks.
Superintendent Ralph Grimm insists that any changes to the band schedule are not a direct result of cuts to district expenditures.
He tells WGIL as next year’s director, Petrie will be responsible for making the band’s schedule.
“That’s not something that my team and I had any conversation about,” Grimm says. “We didn’t provide any direction to Dean on that. We didn’t cut anything. We didn’t ask the board to cut anything.”
Petrie says rumors about what the band’s schedule will look like next year are premature because he and his staff have not made any decisions.
He says that at the moment he’s “looking for great educational opportunities for our students that they will enjoy” and that he’ll be glad to elaborate on next year’s plans at the appropriate time.
Longtime 205 band instructor David Ericson will join Petrie as the high school’s Associate Director of Bands next year.
