According to yesterday's Sheboygan Press, elementary schools in Wausau, Wisconsin will no longer hold holiday concerts, and the elite extra-curricular Master Singers choir group at Wausau West High School will be temporarily disbanded. The moves came after the school board's attorney developed new guidelines for December concerts. They call for five secular songs for each religious one if the concert contains holiday music. The district also created a committee of 4 teachers to approve all holiday concert selections. The committee did not have time to get to the Master Singers proposed selections at its Sept. 26 meeting, leaving the choir insufficient time to prepare.
UPDATE: The Wausau Daily Herald reports that after a strong negative reaction to the board's actions, at an Oct. 10 meeting the board voted to place the decision on whether to hold winter concerts back in the hands of school principals, and revert to the former policy of having principals review song lists for each concert. However the board will update the music policy for next year with public input. [Thanks to Blog From the Capital for the lead.]
