Breckenridge Texan

The Pride of Breckenridge – the Buckaroo Marching Band will soon be sporting a new look. The Breckenridge Independent School District Board of Trustees approved the purchase of new marching uniforms during their meeting on Monday night.

According to BISD Superintendent Tim Seymore, the current uniforms are more than 10 years old and have reached the end of their useful life. Also, he said, there are more kids in band this year than the school has serviceable uniforms.

Replacing all the uniforms verses adding to old uniforms

Sketch of new band uniforms

Seymore and BISD Band Director Dane Richardson looked at the option of adding additional uniforms to the current uniforms they already had but determined that it would be more expensive per uniform to just add a few new ones to what they already have. Seymore said it will be more cost effective to start from scratch than to add a few new uniforms to the set of uniforms that are more than 10 years old and already worn out.

Richardson told board members that the life expectancy of a band uniform is about 10 years, so now is a good time to replace the current uniforms.

He said schools typically order more uniforms than they need in order to provide for growth in the program in the future and to have a wider variety of sizes available for the students. He said when BHS purchased the current uniforms 10 years ago they had 40 kids in band and ordered 100 uniforms. Now they have 98 kids in band and 100 uniforms. With the new uniforms, he said, they will order a total of 150 to allow for growth.

The design process

Richardson said he spoke with several different companies when going through the design process. He took some of the sketches they made and put them in a Google form and did a survey with kids and parents, conducting several rounds of the polling.

He then took the top three or four most popular choices and made a few changes based on some suggestions he had received and then ran them through the survey process again.

At Monday night’s meeting, he presented trustees with the final design that had been chosen. He said it had polled the highest with the parents and students by about 70 percent, based on three final options he presented.

Matching the Buckaroo Green on the uniforms

Richardson said Stanbury, the company that provided the lowest bid and will be making the new uniforms, is the same company that provided Breckenridge with their uniforms last time. Because of that, he said, they have the school’s color scheme on file and he asked the company to switch the green that was provided in the sketches to the green they have on file to make sure it is the correct color.

“Where there is green on the uniform, it would be this shade that we have on file, as opposed to (the one on the sketch),” he said.

Additionally, the company will send a sample of a completed uniform to be approved before they start production on the uniform order.

“They will send us a physical sample,” Richardson said. “They will not make $60,000 worth of uniforms until we have seen one and everyone has given their thumbs up. So, when I have a physical uniform, I’ll show it to anyone that wants to see it before we hit the go button.”

New uniforms more functional and comfortable

Richardson also said the new uniforms are more functional. Instead of hems, there are snaps on the uniforms so they don’t have to be sewn every time they need to be hemmed. Also, the new uniforms will be wash-and-wear and will not have to be dry cleaned, which will save on the dry cleaning costs. Additionally, there are as few pieces as possible for the uniforms – a jacket, pants and a hat. He said the fabric is also lighter and stretchier than what they currently have.

Richardson said the standard turnaround for an order of uniforms is around 180 days from approval. He said right now, they are waiting on the physical sample to arrive so they can give approval. He said he expects the approval can be done by the first of October, which will put delivery sometime at the beginning of April. The cost of the new uniforms approved by trustees is $60,877.50.

Other Business

In other business, trustees renewed a contract with GermBlast for $33,288.78 for disinfection of the campuses, buses and athletics department to help prevent the spread of infections, such as the flu, during the school year.

They also approved several items on the consent agenda, including approving the minutes of the previous board meetings, approving SHAC committee members for 2018-2019 and approval of the August 31, 2018, financial report and quarterly/annual investment report and investment policy.

They also accepted the resignations of BHS science teacher Donna Trammell and Special Education Reading Teacher Shawnda Camp at South Elementary.

Students of the Month

Also at Monday night’s meeting, four students were presented with student of the month awards.

First-grader Dexy Adams was awarded Student of the Month at East Elementary; Second-grader Audra Wimberley at North Elementary; Fourth-grader Matthew Wunsch III at South Elementary; and Callie Shirley at Breckenridge Junior High School.

First-grader Dexy Adams receives her Student of the Month award from East Elementary Principal Barbara Collinsworth at this week’s school board meeting. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Second-grader Audra Wimberley was presented with her Student of the Month certificate by North Elementary Principal Jennifer Gillard at Monday night’s meeting. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Fourth-grader Matthew Wunsch III received his Student of the Month award from South Elementary Principal Kenna Rainey on Monday. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Callie Shirley was presented with the Student of the Month award by Breckenridge Junior High School Principal Mary Perkins. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Story by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan

Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge High School Band Director Dane Richardson talks to the BISD Board of Trustees about the school’s band uniforms. The board approved the purchase of new uniforms for the marching band. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)