G-E-T school board vote ensures band students can attend Pearl Harbor trip

The Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District ensured all high school band students interested in attending the band’s trip to Hawaii for a performance at the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade will be able to go following a closed session school board decision last Monday.

The board approved a motion to “allow administration to work with the Pearl Harbor band trip participants in meeting unexpected financial obligations,” Superintendent Michele Butler told the Times the day after the meeting. 

The motion passed 6-1 with Harold Olson as the lone ’No’ vote. Board member Kara Nelson was not at the meeting, while Todd Roessler abstained from the vote.

Dues for the trip had to be wired to the travel agency before the end of business on Tuesday. With it due, the district had to pay some of the bill through the band’s activity account, district business manager Cary Brommerich said, adding that the district wanted to ensure the board of education knew what was happening.

There is one family on a payment plan with money coming from the band’s activity account, which relies on funds raised through fundraising and donations instead of day-to-day school funds. None of the money came from Fund 10 or the district operating budget, according to Butler.

“The district had to pay the bill, but we knew we might have a family or two that might need a payment plan, and that’s why we needed permission from the board to give a payment plan. But we did collect almost every single penny. There is no outgoing money (from the district to families),” Butler said.

The total travel costs for the trip equaled $275,000 and was paid in separate installations.

“When we first got this trip approved, it was truly just to allow the kids to do an overnight stay. It had nothing to do with the district facilitating any of the finances, so we just wanted to make sure — even if it’s for $10,000 or $5,000 — that if somebody needs an extra month to pay off, we just didn’t want to not have permission from the board. This was to make sure the board knows that we might be working with a few people,” Butler said.

Hope for transparency motivated Monday meeting

There are 109 people going on the trip, including 52 students, 12 chaperones, a music director and 44 “shadow people”, which include family or friends of band members.

All shadow people paid their way for the trip, and no fundraising or donations were used on their travel dues, Brommerich and Butler confirmed on Thursday.

Brommerich said he wanted to be up front with the school board on how the costs stood and how it would not affect the district budget.

“I don’t want to make that kind of decision without my school board knowing,” Brommerich told the Times last Thursday. “We’re saying, ‘Hey, we want to work with our band people.’ That’s first and foremost. The board needs to be privy on if we want to do that. … This is us being transparent with our board.”

“Unexpected costs” discussed by the board arose late in planning because airfare was charged separately and was not clearly conveyed by the travel company in an original estimate for costs, Butler and Brommerich said Thursday. The band’s final invoice was due by Tuesday or they would have lost their airfare for the trip.

Monday’s decision will not have a bottom-line effect on the district’s budget, Butler told the Times.

Butler said she couldn’t comment further on specific agreements for payment extensions or agreements due to closed session discussions and open meetings laws. Payment extension requests include a signed document saying the band account will be reimbursed in set installments or by a deadline.

“The vast majority are all making their payments in the next 24 hours and getting it in before the installment is actually due,” Butler said.

When asked if every student that wanted to go on the trip would be able to go, Butler said, “students are in good shape.”

Donations also erased some financial barriers for students, Brommerich said.

“In the past 48 hours we have had our tremendous community step up, we’ve had nothing but great responses from people going on the trip, parents of people going on the trip,” the business manager said. “We’ve had an outgoing of support being that the school board and district really was open to working with anyone going on the trip.”

Butler is excited for the band to perform and last week’s action makes that possible for all students.

“We were just trying to make sure all of our kiddos were good to go and with an unexpected expense we just wanted to make sure that it didn’t get in the way of moving forward for these kids because they’re going to Pearl Harbor representing Wisconsin. … it’s quite an honor to be asked and they really are a great group to see. … they’ll do us proud.”