Band Teacher's Resignation Met With Protests

The Redondo Beach Board of Education will discuss the future of the Band during Tuesday night's regular meeting, according to the school board's agenda.

The band program has been caught in the middle of a controversy surrounding the resignation of Scott Sutherland, the teacher of the band program at Parras and at , earlier this month.

According to a statement posted by Sutherland in the comments of a Patch blog post about the situation, Sutherland was given the option to resign or be dismissed earlier this year after receiving a "needs improvement" rating in his final employee evaluation.

Sutherland said the low rating stemmed from an email he sent regarding the Parras Middle School December concert:

"On the date of Parras' December concert, I was expecting that the acoustic shell would be ready and in place in the (Redondo Union High School) auditorium. Upon receiving word that it would be unavailable for our performance, I penned an impassioned argument for the shell to be installed in time for the evening's performance. My email was deemed by the administration to be too aggressive. I will readily admit I may have been too enthusiastic in making my point, but my passion for the students' success fueled my writing.

"In the aftermath, I was summoned to the principal's office, offered a verbal warning in the presence of a union representative, and it was requested that I apologize to all parties involved. I eagerly and swiftly drafted and sent my apology, and was praised on its professionalism by my supervisor," Sutherland wrote.

Patch has requested a copy of the email believed to be at the center of Sutherland's resignation. Sutherland said he would speak with his representatives and get back to us.

In the meantime, about 75 students and parents hand-delivered letters supporting Sutherland to the offices on June 18. A small group of students and parents also met with Dr. Steven Keller, the district's superintendent, about Sutherland.

Keller told Patch that he had also received multiple emails supporting the former band teacher; however, he was unable to comment specifically on personnel matters due to confidentiality and upon the advice of the district's attorney.

However, Keller said that he had read every email and shared copies with Parras Principal Lars Nygren, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Nancy Billinger and the school board.

Still more students and parents have posted about their support of Sutherland on the Parras Middle School Band Facebook page and on .

Nevertheless, not all parents are supporting the movement to reinstate Sutherland as band teacher.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told Patch that he disagreed with several of Sutherland's policies, including the amount of practice time he required of his students.

Apparently, Sutherland required his students to practice about 600 minutes per month—at least 20 minutes each day, including Saturdays and Sundays—which the parent found to be far too much.

The open session of Tuesday's school board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the RBUSD offices at 1401 Inglewood Ave. in North Redondo Beach. The Parras Band plans to play at the district offices starting at 5:15 p.m.