Jamestown Public Schools officials are saying all the right things when it comes to the open position of Jamestown High School marching band director.

Marc Lentsch, who will continue to serve as Persell Middle School band director, announced last week he is stepping down as JHS marching band director, a position he held for two years after the resignation of Meghan Mruray, who served as JHS marching band director for 18 years.

Paul Abbott, school board president, and Kevin Whitaker, district superintendent, said the board and district administration support the marching band and will begin a search for a new director. It’s a bit of a different tone from the last time the district was searching for a new marching band director in 2024. At that time, initial public discussion included changes to the program while igniting concerns from the public that the high school may not offer marching band.

It was notable, then, that the administration signaled support when announcing Lentsch’s resignation for the marching band to quell potential public concerns. The last thing anyone wanted was to create concerns among a loyal group of student musicians and band alumni.

As the search begins, no one should question the district’s commitment to the band program. At the same time everyone should recognize the difficulty finding someone who will be able to handle the job as long as Murray did. Jamestown is lucky to have built a feeder program of middle school band programs and a strong group of band alumni who volunteer their time to help the band director, but the band director’s job is still a big proposition when considering other duties – both professional and personal – that the job entails.

Marching band is an important offering for a large group of students at the Jamestown middle and high schools.

“I just like to see that we make sure everything is covered more clearly, so we can better communicate what the students want (than) what can be served to them,” band member Samantha Mathis told board members last week.

Continuing to offer the opportunity for the students to perform is important, and it’s also important to make sure the student musicians’ are engaged in the process. Those students not only are the program’s present, but some of them will return to help the next generation of marching bands at Jamestown High School just as the alumni are helping now.