We the parents and students of the Plano Independent School District do hereby request the PISD board to restore recent changes to the current catalog of course weights for Level III & Level IV Honors music courses, as they pertain to PISD students starting with the graduating class of 2023, for the reasons stated below:

1. We find the addition of more heavily weighted STEM electives (up to 5.0) along with the simultaneous demotion of Honors status for music electives (down to 4.0) to be inconsistent with the expressed desire from PISD to de-emphasize the importance of cumulative GPA. If PISD truly seeks to reduce parents’ concern over competition for cumulative GPA, we would expect the PISD administration to reduce the disparity between elective credit, not to increase it. As it stands now, music credits have been reduced to 4.0 while all other fine arts classes award higher credit up to 5.0. Are the top music students not the caliber of students that deserve every bit as much recognition for excellence in music? The increased inequality between electives will create more worry for parents, while also demoralizing those students who pursue the highest excellence in PISD music programs.

2. PISD music programs have long established their outstanding reputation in the state of Texas, and therefore deserve keeping their Honors designation. Even our neighboring 6A district, Allen ISD, has no problem maintaining Honors status for their music programs (along with awarding credit weight of 5.0), why does PISD have a problem to do so? This year, 18% of the top-ranked All-State orchestra students were from PISD, compared to 9% from Frisco ISD and 2% from Allen ISD. Any casual observation of the combined number of statewide and nationwide accolades for PISD Honors music programs over the past 10 years would lead any rational person to conclude that if there were to be any music program in the state of Texas that is unquestionably deserving of Honors credit and recognition for exemplary accomplishment and the highest standard of excellence, it should be the PISD music program. Although this is recognized by TMEA and other organizations across the country, we have trouble understanding how it is not being recognized and willfully supported by our own PISD administration? 

3. We feel that the PISD administration's recently proposed demotion of the PISD music program’s Honors status is discouraging to students. Music students must dedicate thousands of after-school hours and hundreds of hours in private tutoring over 4-7 years in order to reach the level of performance excellence required to be included in the top PISD music programs, which are nationally recognized. We feel it might be improper to use the same comparison standards between these superior PISD music programs and academics in order to determine qualification for Distinguished Level grade weight, but even if this comparison were to be made, we feel that these PISD music programs already meet and exceed the qualifications to be given Distinguished Level status, put forth by the Texas Association of School Boards. If the primary reason for dropping Honors credit is due to co-seating, perhaps it should be eliminated in order to solve this issue. However, if co-seating is not avoidable in the PISD music program, then we feel it may be better if the PISD board change the criteria for Honors in music.

4. We are concerned that the PISD administration's recently proposed demotion of the PISD music program’s Honors status may potentially cause long-term damage to the superior quality of the PISD music programs. This may occur because a large segment of the highest academically ranked students in PISD are also in the current Honors music programs, and they are significant contributors to the standard of excellence and superior status of the music programs that PISD currently enjoys. Future top-ranked music students may potentially find the increased disparity between elective credit too great to justify remaining in the top music programs, despite PISD recommendations to disregard cumulative GPA.

5. The current PISD administration decision-making process is quite troubling to PISD parents and students, because of a seeming lack of transparency, communication and consideration of input from parents, teachers, and students before making a major decision or change. We would have liked to see the PISD administration conduct a more thorough investigation of parental views as well as research the true negative impacts before moving forward on a decision to remove Honors status from music, so it would not become necessary for PISD parents to conduct a petition in order to provide that feedback on important issues which could have a lasting effect on our students and PISD programs.

In summary, we the parents and students of the Plano Independent School District believe that the recent changes to the current catalog of course weights for Level III & Level IV Honors music courses does more harm than good for our students and the PISD music programs. If co-seating is a primary concern for Honors in music, then the PISD should take steps to make sure Honors music is kept for the students that are willing to take the challenge. Finally, if PISD’s true aim is to alleviate the grade point chasing and minimize the importance of cumulative GPA, they should do so in an evenly distributed way that does not unfairly single out and penalize one group of students over another, by reducing the disparity between elective credits, not by increasing it.

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