Like most school districts throughout California, the Mt. Diablo Unified School District has drastically reduced the budget for Music Programs for schools in the District, including Ygnacio Valley High School (YVHS). The District only pays for the salary of the school Music Director. A parent and friend support group “Music Boosters” has for years raised funds to enable the music program at Ygnacio Valley High School to continue and develop: Jazz band, Wind Ensemble, Orchestra, Guitar Band, and Pep Band. However, the Music Director is unable to plan for the entire school year since the funds for the Music Program’s budgeted expense items are not available at the start of the school year but instead are raised incrementally throughout the school year by the Music Boosters. With this grant Rotarians will work closely with YVHS to establish solid funding for the Music Program so that it can successfully continue for the foreseeable future. The Music Boosters have a track record over the past five years of being able to generate $15,000 to $17,000 annually. They will continue to do this. This Rotary grant will create financial breathing space for the music program by using the grant funds to pay for budgeted specific expense items for school year 2020/21. Funds will continue to be raised by the Music Boosters during the 2020/21 school year through concert sales, fundraisers and donations. These funds will be put into a bank account to fully fund the program for the following school year – i.e., 2021/22. This approach of raising funds one year in advance of the next school year will become the standard approach for the YVHS Music Program. The pro forma (financial analysis of projected budgeted expenses vs. projected income from fundraising) we developed for the Music Program shows that there will be a small surplus each school year which could be used for any contingency and act as a buffer against inflation. With this model the YVHS Music Program will have funding at the start of each school year and provide a reliable and robust program for the students. The DDF will not be used for general operating expenses. The DDF contributed by the District will be used for three specific expense items: the purchase of new instruments, new chairs and new components for the sound system. The new instruments are needed because of the growing number of students enrolling in the music program; the new chairs are needed because the number of attendees at music program concerts exceed the current number of available chairs; and the new sound system components are needed because there is currently only one microphone built in to the stage and more are needed to improve the sound quality at the music program concerts. The sum of these three expense items exceeds the requested $15,000 in DDF. The $15,000 in funds contributed by the Concord, Rossmoor, Pleasant Hill, Clayton, Martinez, and Walnut Creek Rotary Clubs will be used to cover the remaining costs of these three expense items and also to pay for the following specific expense items: bus rentals to transport band members to regional music festivals in which they compete with other high schools; fees for these music festivals and for workshops; specialized instruction by professional musicians; purchasing sheet music; student scholarships; insurance, dues for a high school musical organization, postage and printing; and for band member family/booster events.
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