Dear LCHS Band Parents,

If you have not already heard, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is proposing a new uniform GPA standardization system for evaluating students for admission. The current form of this draft does not allow for fine arts courses to be used in this GPA calculation. I would encourage you to take a few minutes to type an email expressing your concerns over this matter, as this can have ramifications on all of the fine arts programs in the future. This new GPA calculation system is set to be implemented beginning with the fall 2009 freshman class, so having parents of our current 7th and 8th graders send input would be very valuable.

Please note that they are accepting input through October 5th and a decision is supposed to be reached at the October 23rd meeting of the THECB. To send an email, please go to www.tmea.org <http://www.tmea.org/>  and click on Uniform GPA Rules Draft Released. There you will find a link to email and you can also read the details of the plan. It is worth noting too, that other courses, such as Pre-AP are also excluded.

I have included a couple of articles concerning Arts Advocacy and how the Arts help educate students in their academic classes.  If you are unsure what to write in your e-mails, these may help. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  This is an opportunity for us to take an active role in the decision making process for our students. 

Have a great day!

Michael Kilgore

Lakeview Centennial HS Bands

Fine Arts Dept. Chair

3505 Hayman Dr.

Garland, TX 75043

(972) 487-4681 office

(972) 240-3750 fax