Like so many other choral programs, we suffer from a lack of boys and have for a couple of years. We have two choruses that meet during the school day: a treble chorus of primarily 9th and 10th grade girls (the training ensemble), and a mixed chorus of 10-12 grade girls and 9-12 grade boys (the more advanced group). Next year, all of the boys will be in either 9th or 10th grade, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to shift all the boys into the younger ensemble. So, we would have a training mixed chorus of primarily 9-10th graders and a more advanced treble chorus of primarily 10-12th graders. As more boys make their way into the program and get older and more experienced, the hope is that we will end up with two mixed choruses with viable TB sections.

 

A parent (who is also a school board member) of one of the boys is fighting the decision, claiming that her son is being held back due to his gender. He may marginally qualify for the more advanced group next year, but if he does he would undoubtedly be the only boy among about 35 girls. I've used the Title IX chorus exception (regarding vocal quality and range) as an argument for keeping all the boys together in the mixed ensemble, but the principal, superintendent, and school board are all likely to continue to protest on the grounds that the two choruses do not offer "substantially equal" opportunities. In my view, that is the whole point of the chorus exception, but I'm curious as to whether anyone else is aware of a similar situation and how it was handled.

 

Thank you!