Mayor Whitmire
It was great that Mayor Whitmire stepped up for the students who were being denied a trip to New Orleans to perform in the Sugar Bowl Parade.
According to parents the marching band had been denied approval for travel with HISD saying New Orleans was not safe.
They are no strangers to performing at big events and about a year ago, they learned they were invited to participate in a parade for the New Year’s Day bowl game, which also serves as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun, especially knowing that we were going to perform. So, we were all really excited,” said Ava Mendoza.
But the trip and the planning were brought to a halt after the district said they couldn’t go.
“They stated that New Orleans was not a safe place for our children to be at while performing,” said Valerie Mendoza.
Ava and her friends were hurt by the decision.
“It was definitely a shock, when, when the news came out,” said Band Field Captain, Jacob Gamez.
The students have been putting in a lot of work.
“You can ask any of the students at Waltrip if they hear us at 7 a.m. In the morning until we’re the last people to leave at 7 p.m. And we put a lot of hard work into perfecting everything,” said band member Holley Chavez.
Saturday morning things changed. According to Mayor John Whitmire’s office, the mayor heard from Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles about a decision that was made to deny travel for the marching band to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
The mayor’s office released a statement Saturday morning saying that the mayor had informed Miles that he was happy to have Houston police escort the marching band on the trip to New Orleans and its return home as well as additional support them throughout their itinerary.
Mike Miles
Mike Miles was appointed superintendent of HISD by the fascist governor, Greg Abbott. Miles had initially denied the Waltrip Marching Band permission to participate in the Sugar Bowl Parade.
The Roaring Red Ram Band from Waltrip High School in Garden Oaks was one of five national teams selected to perform at the 2025 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans early next year. However, after spending the past year fundraising, and after already putting down a deposit for the chance to show off in front of a national audience, Houston ISD has declined to approve the trip, Waltrip parents told Chron this week. Source
I can only say that Miles must not be reading how dangerous the schools at HISD have become since he took over. Students stabbed, bomb threats, guns in schools, fights, and those are the ones that make the news. I wonder how much they hide?
UPDATE