Fairchild Magnet School Students Can Play Trumbull Sports, but No Marching Band

[Editor's Note: The previous headline and two points in the story were incorrect. The Board of Education is investigating waiving a class and how best to transport students to the magnet school. Trumbull Patch regrets the errors.]

Several Trumbull seats remain open for the Fairchild Wheeler Inter-district Magnet High School, but some prospective students from Trumbull are concerned about extracurricular activities.

The students can't participate in the Marching Band, partly due to a music class requirement at Trumbull High School.

To remedy the problem, the Board of Education is pondering waiving that requirement for Trumbull students attending the Magnet High School. The board also trying to figure out how to provide transportation for magnet school students from Trumbull.

But the board has allowed Trumbull residents attending the school to participate in Trumbull High School athletics provided they can obtain their own transportation.

Specific details are being worked out, said school Supt. Ralph Iassogna.

The magnet school will serve 1,500 students, 70 percent of which will come from Bridgeport. It will run on green technology and will teach sciences including aerospace and biology. The school will also serve surrounding towns in addition to Trumbull.

It sits on park land owned by the state but controlled by Bridgeport. So far 42 Trumbull students are registered and accepted at the school, which opens in the fall, Iassogna said.

"Why Can't I Have Both?"

Parents and high school students have contacted the school district asking for a solution the problem.

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Madison Middle School eighth-grader Erin Mahoney said, "I know for a fact I want to go into science, but I have also dreamed about joining the band my whole life. So now ... I will have to choose between my dream and my education. Why can't I have both?"

She added that her sister was in the band. The band will help her learn leadership and could earn her college scholarship money.

The school board members agreed that all students should have the same opportunity to participate whichever school they attend. But the devil is in the details.

"These things are going to work themselves out. It's not easy," said Chairman Steve Wright. "It's easy to spot problems. It's hard to fix them."

Vice Chair Deborah Herbst asked to speak to Music Teacher Peter Horton about the band class. Iassogna said Horton "confirmed" three times that the class is a requisite for all ninth graders.

Concluded Wright, "We're giving people the opportunity. We'll see what happens."