Parents and Students Speak Out: Hamilton is Out of Tune With The Musical Arts
Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels.
Nolan Doherty
The Hamilton School District boasts the motto “Each Child. Every Opportunity for Success.” While this motto largely holds true for the many academic opportunities provided by the school district, recently its application to extracurriculars has come under scrutiny. Specifically, a large disconnect is apparent between the school district and the musical arts. This disconnect is evident in the lives of both students and parents involved in programs such as Synergy Show Choir, Hamilton Drama Society, Charger Band, Jazz Band, and other choirs such as Chamber Singers, Charger Choir, and Hamiltones A Capella. The detachment between the arts and the district office was brought into plain view through the recent departure of Hamilton's most recent Synergy Show Choir director, Ms. Maggie Condon, affectionately known by the community as “MC.”
MC served as the director of Hamilon’s Synergy show choir for three years before her sudden departure at the start of the second semester of the 24-25 school year. While this departure appeared unexpected on the surface, MC released a statement via email to parents highlighting her displeasure with “the lack of support and vision for the music department within the district.” This announcement was a wake up call to the community. To determine more about current sentiments and beliefs, student alumni, parents who have children in the musical arts, as well as students actively participating in these arts were given an optional Charger Press survey soliciting their feedback on the management and support of the musical/fine arts programs within the Hamilton School District.
The objective of these surveys was to offer an insight into the lives of those participating in what was described by survey respondents as an “understaffed,” “underfunded,” and “underappreciated” facet of the Hamilton School District. Over 40 responses were collected from parents and students alike, many of which contained a sense of passion and pride for their community. However, many of these responses also expressed a great amount of woe regarding the future of the musical arts within the district.
The first question asked to parents and students was: “How would you evaluate the level of respect and support the Hamilton School District has shown to the arts programs?”
Responses to this question from parents were as follows:
Anonymous band parent*: “Little. Events are not advertised and students do not receive the same kinds of recognition that students with athletic or academic achievements receive.”
Jacques Rowe: “Not much support or respect from the district. It seems like the booster organizations keep the programs operating outside of the classes.”
Other common responses included “Minimal at best,” “Poor,” and “Low.”
Students shared a similar sentiment:
Eliana Mitchell (2023 alumni): “Right now, it is at an all time low, which is very disheartening to hear. [I would rank the level of support] 3/10, due to the lack of support at events, recognition in announcements, and especially cutting funding towards buses. The main issue is ignoring communication from people in the program discussing issues and not acting on them.”
Charlotte Anderson (Hamilton senior): “[The district] does very little to acknowledge the accomplishments of each music art department. [For example,] a majority of the band went to Rome which was advertised little to the students and teachers. Nobody knew we were gone until we came back. We went there to represent our school and a majority of our school didn’t even know we were there.”
Emma King (Hamilton sophomore): “I feel like the level of support given to the arts program is seriously lacking. My guess is 90% of the people in our school don’t even know what show choir is or even care about the arts program at all. We are rarely announced for our achievements, while other sports programs are consistently announced and praised for the positive things they do.”
Hailey Stubler (Hamilton senior): “I don’t think the school district is disrespectful towards students who are in the arts, but they definitely don’t make it easy to participate. Personally, I had to meet with my counselor to adjust my schedule every year. I have never had the classes I wanted. As an academically motivated student, the constantly changing scheduling of classes makes it nearly impossible for me to do everything I want to do. I have had to constantly advocate for myself because I do not feel supported by the system the school district has in place. In my opinion, the arts are set up to fail. There just aren’t accessible ways to participate.”
These responses clearly highlight the general lack of support felt by the members of this tight-knit community.
The Hamilton School district often claims that communication with both parents and students is a quintessential priority which the district prides itself on. In order to evaluate this claim within the context of the musical community, parents and students were asked: “How effectively does the school district communicate information about program events, opportunities, and achievements?”
Some of the responses from parents are as follows:
Cary Suneja: “The district does not. The information comes almost exclusively from the drama and choir directors.”
Allison Hoppe: “I feel like the school barely makes recognition of music events. I usually know from emails I receive from music teachers.”
However, feedback from parents on this question was not entirely negative and positive responses were also apparent:
Jamie Whitehead: “Achievements and events seem to be shared as much as other programs.”
Anonymous choir parent*: “Very effectively! I have received personal emails as well as newsletters, and have seen notices on social media and in print.”
While the parental responses to this question contain a mix of positive and negative opinions, the student responses tell a distinctly negative experience regarding district communication.
Livi Sayrs (Hamilton freshman): “Not effectively. The higher-ups in our school district do not recognize the arts for achievements, like denying Synergy the "walk of champions" when they won Grand Champions at Monona Grove last year.”
Peyton Toepfer (2024 alumni): “Extremely ineffectively. I never saw anything, my parents rarely saw anything, and I received all my information about the above topics from the director.”
Elena Wright (Hamilton senior): “Not well, especially for achievements; other sports teams will be recognized during the daily announcements, but I've never heard marching band recognized, and students who perform well at WSMA State are never recognized outside of the band program, despite it being a huge achievement and despite members of other teams being recognized on the announcements. The schedule change was also communicated very poorly and last minute last year.”
It is apparent that the concern of disconnect between the district and the musical community is persistent within these responses. While responses varied from parent to parent, it is clear that students do not feel adequately addressed by the district.
The final survey question posed was: “To what extent do you feel the district's music faculty is retained and valued at a rate comparable to other faculty members?”
Student and parent responses to this question were as follows:
Reece Schrader (Hamilton senior): “I feel as though they are very underestimated and quite undervalued. I got to see it more than others in our previous music director because I helped her with stuff outside of Show Choir. I saw how burned out she got after doing something that she shouldn’t have responsibilities for.”
Jaya Drover (2024 alumni): “The program (Synergy Show Choir) went through 3 directors within my 4 years at Hamilton. Every time was due to teachers being forced to work at 3 schools, and teach classes they’re not meant to/want to teach. I haven't experienced this with other faculty members.”
Anonymous band parent*: There seems to be a problem with promoting and retaining both students and staff. While current numbers may be lower than other schools, interest is there from younger students. If district administration is indeed looking to maintain and/or grow the programs, there needs to be increased support seen by the public, not less…This lack of transparency has brought about more issues than it has supposedly shielded. Additionally, the lack of time and attention given to our students and their opinions and views is disturbing.
Anonymous choir parent*: On the one hand, Mr. Waite & Ms. Plamann have been at HHS for many years, and Mr. Chanto has been involved for about 5 years, I think. But on the other hand, the amount of time needed to run the band, choir, show choir, and drama programs is a huge time commitment and a lot is being asked of these teachers. It's extremely likely that more is asked of them than of any other teachers in the district, based upon time commitments and duties. I fear it is unsustainable.
These quotes from students and parents, past and present, provide an insight into the treatment of the musical arts teachers at Hamilton. Through these testimonies a common concern can be seen: students within the arts believe that their teachers are undervalued, overworked, and undersupported. These teachers are the foundation of the musical arts at Hamilton. Their efforts facilitate the powerful bonds and friendships formed from the many arts programs and provide an encouraging learning environment for all students.
However, the district has recently made efforts to communicate with families of the musical arts. Within the past two months, the district has sent out two mass emails explaining the upcoming changes and justifying their rationale. These emails highlight the “comprehensive review” performed by the district in order to assess the strength of the musical programs offered throughout the district. Within the first email sent on February 21, 2025, the district outlines the reasoning for review of the musical programs, a timeline of steps taken throughout the review process, and reiterates the district's support for music. On March 12, 2025 the district continued this dialogue by sending a second email addressing the changes made and offering a preview of the list of musical courses to be offered at SSI, Templeton, and Hamilton for the 2025-2026 school year. These two emails are a step in the right direction; however, it is essential that the district follows through with its plans and executes them effectively.
Both prior to and after the district communication, students have continued to advocate for the arts and for the programs they value. Junior Emma Suneja is one student who has been a champion for the musical arts, frequently advocating for Synergy Show Choir and highlighting its importance. To continue her advocacy, she attended a school board meeting in an attempt to raise questions about the treatment of the musical arts. Explaining why she felt the need to attend and speak at the school board meeting, Suneja stated, “My inspiration to take a big role in advocacy for the arts has been MC leaving. I have never had a teacher leave mid-year because of mistreatment of administration.”
After the board meeting, Suneja requested a follow up meeting with Hamilton superintendent, Dr. Mielke. “Through my meetings with Dr. Mielke I have now heard both the side of the administration and the side of MC and I still believe that MC was treated unfairly. I know her hours were insane because she was at school for as long as I was, and sometimes longer. Her leaving was a huge eye-opener for the realities of the program and our struggles. Having four teachers leave in seven years must tell admin that the way this job is written is not suitable for one person.”
Suneja added about her meetings with Dr. Mielke that it “seemed like he was genuinely trying to do the right thing, but I still think overall there is a huge disconnect between the students and the administration.”
Hamilton junior Evan Rosenau also attended a school board meeting to speak up for the arts as well as had a follow up meeting with Dr. Mielke. He stated, “I do believe the planned changes for the music programs will have positive effects. Unfortunately, I believe a lot of those impacts will come long after I, or any of the upperclassmen, have graduated. Personally, I believe that is where some distaste comes from. It is a difficult place to be in, but I know my fellow bandmates will continue to fight to make our bands the best they can be as these changes take their effect.”
While the district is showing an effort to support the musical arts at Hamilton, some students still feel these efforts resulted more from pressure put on the district by the community than a genuine support for the arts. Hamilton freshman Elena Reyes adds, “The fact that members of all of these music programs have had to come together to say something about the poor treatment that the music program has been receiving as well as all of the sudden changes that are being made without the permission of the students is enough to say that the district doesn’t show much respect towards the music program.”
Furthermore, if Hamilton wants to boast itself as a “destination district,” it must provide consistent, quality educators for every student in every class, club, and extracurricular. Reece Schrader notes, “Personally, throughout the year, I have seen a substantial growth in the attention to the music department; however, it’s growth that should’ve become apparent long before this year. It took a fantastic, well-educated teacher to quit mid school year for administrators to recognize that the program needs serious attention.” The poor retention rate for teachers in the musical arts, specific to Synergy’s high turnover of four teachers in seven years, undermines the ability for students to create meaningful connections with their educators—a critical facet of learning.
This Charger Press survey aimed to gauge the level of respect, care, and value felt by the musical arts community at Hamilton; what it revealed was a concerning perception of poor communication, neglect, and a lack of appreciation for the musical community. This trend clashes with the Hamilton School District’s motto of “Each Child. Every Opportunity for Success.” In order for the district to truly fulfill their motto, they need to improve their communication, representation, and amount of care shown to the parents, students, and faculty involved in the many musical arts programs within the Hamilton School District.
Hamilton alumni Eliana Mitchell sums it up best: “We were put through hell and back throughout these teacher changes. I have previously expressed how difficult these switches were, and to know that students are experiencing this once again, now due to the lack of respect the programs are facing, is so defeating. Students, faculty, and alumni, including myself, haven't poured their hearts and souls into these programs to see them fall apart. Change needs to happen, recognition needs to happen, and these students need to feel the impact of these programs for the future.”
*Charger Press honored parents’ request for anonymity in the published copy.
