Don't Cut Hinsdale Central Band Teacher's Hours, Board Urged

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale Central High School students and parents urged the school board Thursday to reject a recommendation to cut the hours of one of the two band teachers.

In response, an official said the school district has made no decision.

During public comments, a series of students and parents spoke in support of Grace Adduci, assistant director of bands, who started in 2022.

They said a petition in support of keeping Adduci full time contained more than 600 signatures.

"I was very reluctant to play band when I started high school," student Jonathan Hurley said. "At my parents' urging, I agreed to register for band as a freshman, fully intending to drop it after a year and replace it with Intro to Business. If it was not for Miss Adduci, I am certain I would have quit band after one year."

Said student Jack Gerrard, "She is the sole reason many of us have stayed in band, and I truly believe she has made the whole group and myself a lot better."

Others spoke about the district's decision in 2021 to bar marching band students from using the gym class exemption for a full year. This exception allowed students to not take a PE class if they were enrolled in marching band.

Student Amira Kapadia said the drop in band enrollment sped up after the elimination of the exemption.

"This decline is not because of Miss Adduci's leadership. It is due to structural issues within the program itself that Miss Adduci strives to tackle," Kapadia said.

Board member Jeff Waters suggested the board reconsider the 2021 decision. That statement made parent Kathy Shields happy.

"Mr. Waters, I want to thank you, I want to applaud you and I want to kiss you for recommending reconsidering the band gym exemption," she said.

As the audience laughed at the kissing reference, Waters jokingly rose from his chair for a moment.

Near the end of the meeting, board President Catherine Greenspon said she understood what residents were saying. She called herself a band mom and said her son was still in band in college.

She suggested students and parents meet with Central Principal Bill Walsh and attend a school board meeting next month.

"We are going to do everything we can to support our kids, but we are bound by school code and we are bound by other contractual obligations," Greenspon said. "The conversation is not over."