Marching Band Plays on, Despite Being Cut from School Budget

Some teenagers make friends fast. Others require time or the right environment.

Steven Taesler needed both. The Hopatcong High School junior said he was "pretty much a nobody" throughout grade school. He tried playing sports, but he said he "wasn't really welcomed anywhere."

Then Taesler entered high school and found the marching band.

"When I came here I felt very welcome," he said. "It is and was my home away from home. It was another family to me."

Taesler's other family was on the brink of collapse last May when Gov. Chris Christie's school state aid budget cuts slashed about $1.7 million from the Hopatcong district. Then borough voters defeated the school board's budget proposal, prompting the town council to slash $730,000 from the plan.

So, the school district released many teachers, including instrumental music instructor and marching band director Michael Celia. Several programs were cut, too—and the marching band was one of them.

"Nobody wanted to see it go," Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranzano said. "But we had to make a lot of hard decisions."

The decision rocked marching band members and parents alike. Senior drum major Grace Marchena, who hopes to pursue music as an extra-curricular activity in college, worried about some of her friends.

"For some, it's like the only thing they do," said Marchena, who plays alto saxophone.

That's when parents stepped in. Tom Dougherty said the parents crammed into the high school's band room soon after the decision and planned to write a letter to Maranzano detailing the reasons to keep the marching band. Since Dougherty's name somehow ended up at the letter's bottom, he said he became the de facto leader of the parents.

To Dougherty's surprise, Maranzano invited the parents to the school board's next meeting to discuss the band's future. After it was clear the school would no longer pay for the $12,000-a-year program, Dougherty said, "It became, could [the students] still have a marching band and [the district] wouldn't have to pay for it? We, the parents, would take care of it."

Dougherty said the parents waited until the next meeting before asking the board for a decision. The board's response: Prove to us you can exist on your own, and we'll consider it.

That's all the parents needed, Dougherty said. They created the Hopatocong High School Band Parents Association, and went to local businesses looking for donations. Even the borough's recreation committee donated $500 to the band. The Hopatcong Warriors youth football program agreed to let the band play at its pep rally, where it would split with the HHSBPA the proceeds of a 50-50 raffle, and several games this year.

"It was to show dedication," Middle School teacher and marching band parent Christina Munoz said. "It's to show that they have backing from the parents. The parents are here to support it. We were concerned that if there was no marching band this year because of the budget crisis, it would never come back."

But the marching band needed more than money. The board said it must have a school employee willing to advise the program. Munoz filled the role immediately.

Also, the marching band needed a director. The catch: the position would be unpaid. Still, Matt Testa, the district's only remaining instrumental music teacher, volunteered to take the spot, agreeing to help when he could.

Testa said the parents' zeal and a want to help the kids lured him in.

"They brought together a massive presence at all the [board] meetings," Testa said. "They really went above and beyond."

The band's first challenge? "Hell Week." Dougherty said the board wanted to see discipline from the marching band before approving it, so members and parents spent a week—often from sunrise to sunset—learning new routines and music on the high school's football field.

It was a success, and the board allowed the program to live under stipulations that it wouldn't travel to away games and wouldn't enter competitions.

Since then, the marching band has performed at the Warriors' pep rally and Hopatcong High School's varsity football home opener.

Dougherty said though about 90 percent of the students own their instruments, funding the program hasn't been easy. The marching band's school-issued uniforms are ancient, with buttons hanging like ornaments and collars torn. Some of the school-issued instruments are in rough condition. And Dougherty said sooner or later the marching band will have to hire a paid instructor.

"That's the biggest thing," he said.

"It's our goal that when the budget crisis is over, [the marching band] is funded again by the school," Munoz said. "That's our ultimate goal. …We thought if we could quote-unquote save the band until the budget crisis is over, the school board would either be able to refund the band or support the band financially."

Dougherty said he doesn't see that happening for a long time.

"Maybe in three years we can say, 'Look, board, the economy's back. How about bringing us back? How about just sending us to away games?" he said.

Dougherty said he thinks the high school's elimination of all freshman sports could help the marching band's numbers.

"The marching band won't be pay-for-play," Dougherty said, referring to the school board's July announcement that next year high school athletes must pay to participate in activities. "The band will have membership dues, but they're not going to be anything compared to what the school's asking for from other sports. … My some kids end up doing marching band instead of soccer."

Regardless, Taesler was happy to be with his other family.

"When I came here and everyone accepted me for what I was, I didn't want to be anywhere else but here," he said. "Everyone has their own personal high emotionally. [Performing] is mine. This is my audience, my spotlight."

Editor's note: This story is part of a nationwide Patch series probing the economy's effect on local schools. For more on the impact on