Pennsylvania Music Educators Association | District 11

We’re providing a quick update to you as it relates to Governor Wolf’s updated guidance for gatherings in person. On August 24^th, we sent you an update relating to PIAA’s decision to move ahead with fall sports and how that intersects with limitations on in-person meetings as well as marching band.

Yesterday (9/2/20), the Governor’s office updated their guidance to say that spectators can now attend youth athletic events in-person, however the 250 person max for outdoor gatherings is still in place. The guidance also removed previous language that said “Band and cheer are also allowed in a sports setting, but individuals involved in such activities count towards gathering limitations and must comply with face covering order and social distancing guidelines.”

This new policy and removal of previous language DOES NOT mean that band and cheer cannot attend youth sports events. Here’s what it does mean:

• The 250 person max outdoor gathering rule is still in place statewide
• Some localities have implemented smaller max gathering limits for their jurisdiction and they may have more specific rules defining how to reach their local max and/or the state max
• Now that spectators are allowed, the max for outdoor gatherings stays at 250 (including athletes, cheer, band, staff. etc)
• There is no guidance from the state or PIAA on how to divide up the 250 to athletes, spectators etc. Local school administrators will make those decisions.

With that information known, if you are a high school band director and you have planned or want to have your marching band at a football game, you need to get in touch with your administration immediately. Your local administration will make the decision on how to divide up the 250 people.

If your district decides to allow spectators – and athletes, cheerleaders and band are part of the in-person event – you need to remind your administrators that the spectators can’t just be athletic parents. You know that and we know that, however your administration may not be thinking along those lines. You need to remind them of this information as they will be deciding how many spectators can attend and who those spectators will be.

PMEA has reached out to the Governor’s office to see if they can offer some clarity to this most recent guidance by putting “band” back into wording.

As always, please reach out with any questions.

Mark Despotakis

PMEA Advocacy Council Chair

Dear PMEA Member-

We want to inform you about some of the advocacy work PMEA has been doing while schools work to re-open in the midst of a pandemic. We also want to explain what limitations PMEA has in our advocacy work.

First, if you haven’t visit the PMEA website and viewed the Preparing for the Future and Virtual Tool Box pages, I recommend you spend some time on that page. Here you will find a wealth of information including information PMEA has put together as well as links to other valid resources.

Some of the highlights of that work you’ll see is our work with other associations, including colleagues in other arts disciplines in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. 

Of particular note is an email sent on August 17th to every superintendent in Pennsylvania. The letter informs superintendents about the aerosol study and reminds them that music can safely be made in schools.

We have been deliberate in our communication to superintendents as we realize they are overwhelmed with every aspect in school re-opening plans and we are working to provide them with relevant and top-level information. In parallel to that, PMEA has developed resources for you to appropriately plan for the re-opening of your music classroom and present those re-opening plans to your administrations. Be sure to check out the series of Open Forums PMEA recently hosted connecting members from across the state to share thoughts and ideas for the coming school year.

It’s important to remember that there is no one size fits all options for re-opening a music classroom. Every school is different. And in Pennsylvania with our 500 school districts, our geographic diversity alone presents a challenge for a one size fits all re-opening plan. That’s why it is incumbent on you to look at the studies and other information available in conjunction with your school guidelines and prepare and present the best plan for your program.

We know there has been a lot of discussion of marching band in the fall and how that ties in with football. Since the beginning of the pandemic, PMEA has been in contact with PIAA, as marching band and football are tied together, to make them aware of our needs, concerns, the aerosol study, and realities of how marching band can meet safely.

On Friday, PIAA decided to move forward with fall sports. That has opened up even more questions about how marching band fits into that piece. Here are the facts as we know them now.

• Pennsylvania continues to have a limit of a 250 person max gathering. Local jurisdictions may limit that further. We don’t see this limit changing until there is a change in the availability of a vaccine or a therapeutic for COVID-19.
• While Governor Wolf has “recommended” that no youth sports take place until after January 1st, it is only a recommendation. PIAA is moving forward with fall sports however is allowing local school districts to decide if and how those sports will take place in their schools.
• There is no ruling that says cheerleaders and marching band members cannot be included in the 250 person max gathering at an athletic event. There is also no ruling that says they can. What that means is that the state is pushing that decision to local school districts.
• Pennsylvania is a local control state. Because of our geographic and socio-economic differences across the state, most education decisions are made at the local level.
• There is a bill that has moved out of the state House Education Committee that would authorize a school entity to determine whether to hold sports and other extracurricular activities in-person and whether to allow spectators. The spectator piece is the notable variable there. If enacted by the legislature, it would be up to the Governor to sign unless there is a veto-proof majority. We’ll continue to follow that bill.
• There is another bill that has moved out of the state House Education Committee that would allow a parent to elect to have a child in a public or non-public school repeat a grade level, this includes all academic or extracurricular activities. And it provides a twelve-month extension of secondary school attendance, free of charge, for a student aged 20 or 21 before the Governor’s COVID-19 disaster emergency proclamation or renewal. We will continue to follow this bill as well. This could have an impact on student participation in your programs, PMEA events, and also in costs to schools.

PMEA will continue to work with and be in discussions with stakeholders and policy makers at the state level. However most decisions about how things will actually happen are still going to be made at the local level. That’s where your local advocacy and planning work is essential. PMEA, nor PIAA, nor any other state association, will be able to solve the issues in every school because every school is vastly different.

We will continue to advocate and partner where we can however, more importantly, we will continue to provide you with the necessary resources for you to use as you see fit in your programs.

A PMEA pandemic taskforce meets regularly and will continue to do so. We continue to encourage you to use the resources available on the PMEA website, including recorded webinars and open forums.

Please stay safe as you start the new school year and find ways to continue to bring the joy of making music to your students.

As always, please contact me at advocacy@pmea.net

Mark Despotakis

Chair, PMEA Advocacy Council