For nearly 14 years Dr. Brown has been a cornerstone for the band program at Desoto High School leading us to victory after victory and helping us maintain our sweepstakes status for the past 4 years. His dedication and work ethic have shaped the culture of our band and inspired every student to work hard, discipline themselves, and improve themselves academically with two of our seniors graduating in the top 20 this year. We are lucky to have him as our director because he represents a history of excellence that we are proud to be a part of. “Dr. Brown pushes us to be the best musicians we can be and creates a program with systems to educate students and give them leadership opportunities and skills,” as said by Abiba Moncriffe, one of our seniors and the band's Drum major for the past 2 years. Not only does Dr. Brown push us to be the best, but he also helps us to accomplish great things while being a part of the program. One great accomplishment would be senior and percussion section leader Jeremy Griffin. He was the first African American Percussionist from DeSoto to advance to All-State in 17 years. Excellence comes out of this program when a man like Dr. Delton Brown is in charge. We are asking you to compensate him fairly and competitively so that he can still be a part of the Desoto High School band. He deserves better compensation for his responsibilities, expertise, and seniority. The school board and administration at our school always say “Greatness comes out of DeSoto'' and if this unfair treatment continues then you would be letting go of someone who helps make DeSoto great. 

It is said that the community and school board want the Desoto High School Band to become a show band. We would need a raise in our budget so that we could afford new uniforms, shoes, music, props and instruments for all the new kids coming into high school. However, students would like to keep our style of marching which is corps style because we have been able to accomplish a lot more than most show-style bands with our current style of marching that Dr. Brown has taught us. Stepping into the band hall you will see over thirty years of awards and trophies in various rooms. All these awards come from our competence in corps-style marching. Unless you truly understand the art of band you will not fully be able to understand how much our values and traditions mean to us. We are the only predominantly black and brown high school band in Texas that still has corps-style marching. People want us to become a show band because we are not "entertaining enough" but as a community that longs for inclusivity, why are our people trying to change us to something different instead of celebrating our hard work on and off the field? Why not be proud of the band and show support seeing as we are the only band that consists of predominantly black and brown students that excel as a corps style marching band in Texas. In addition to this, most HBCU band directors prefer to have students who come from corps-style marching bands because the season allows for more musical growth and training. To change DeSoto to a show-style band would not only be an uncomfortable transition for most band students but also an erasure of a legacy of greatness no other school districts in the state of Texas have. This band is about more than a 7-minute show that you see during a football game, it’s about giving black and brown public-school kids the same access to musical education white and more privileged school districts receives. We don’t have to be like other schools in the area that march show style because we look like them. We are a band that can still put on a good show for people while marching in our current style. 

 In conclusion, we ask that you increase Dr. Brown's salary to be competitive with band directors of his stature and accomplishments. We also ask that you allow Dr Brown to continue to lead the band scholars to victories on the field and in the classroom in the style that has brought many awards and scholarships. We are asking you to keep our band the way it is. We accomplish great things, win, and have fun! Please listen to our voices so that we can continue to be great.