06/17/2026
The Walnut Hills Marching Blue & Gold is the largest and most successful organization at Walnut Hills High School. Last week, band director Richard Canter was informed by administration and the athletic director that the band would only have access to the athletic field on Fridays before home football games and nights the varsity team is away “when the field has not been outsourced to an organization outside Walnut Hills High School”. This is a change when the band had field access 3x a week, as well as several mini-camps on Saturdays.
Due to this change the Marching Blue and Gold will no longer have the resources to create a competitive show. This includes eliminating the color guard because there will not be meaningful opportunities to rehearse visual components.
Why this happened
- Requests from the Band Director to meet regarding scheduling were ignored.
-Time formerly used by the band appears to be given to the football team at the request of new football coaching staff.
-The school is landlocked in a dense city neighborhood. There are no parking lots or fields even close to regulation size. The team can not practice before school without breaking city noise ordinances. There are 120+ students, including a full front ensemble. It is both logistically and financially impossible to transport that many students and instruments 3x to a different location 3-4 times per week plus competitions.
The band is not asking for more time. They are only asking for equitable access with other athletic teams.
Call to Action:
Email the following administrators to let them know the importance of marching band and the importance of field access for a successful and competitive show.
Principal Jonathan Chambers- [email protected]
Athletic Director Shay Steele- [email protected]
Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Shauna Murphy - [email protected]
Cincinnati Public Schools Athletics Manager Josh Hardin- [email protected]
Sign our petition: https://www.change.org/p/help-the-marching-blue-and-gold
Please copy and share with fellow marching band supporters!
