SCHOLARSHIP PROCEDURES
POLICY: It is the policy of the LCHS Choral Music Department and the Choral Parents Association that no student should be prevented from touring for financial reasons.
TOUR CONSIDERATIONS:
•The Concert Choir and Chamber Singers will tour each spring. The current practice is the two choirs will tour together in the spring of odd years (2015, 2017, 2019, etc.), and in other years they will tour separately. The other choral ensembles may have the opportunity for overnight tours, but not internationally.
•Currently, the Director plans on taking a more expensive tour every other year in odd years, possibly international. In even years, the tours are more likely to be less expensive domestic trips.
•In an effort to minimize lost school instruction time, tours are scheduled over Spring break and/or holidays when possible.
•CPA endeavors to provide opportunities for students to raise money for their tours, such as through the sale of program ads. In addition, some portion of song-a-grams sold by students can be applied to their personal tours, as determined by the CPA Board. All students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities to earn funds.
•The primary vehicle for funding tours for students who have financial constraints is through the scholarship process. Funding for scholarships comes primarily from the song-a-gram fundraiser and the Pops Scholarship Concert, although direct donations to the scholarship fund are sometimes also received from donors.
SCHOLARSHIP GUIDELINES:
•Any student who requires financial assistance to tour must fill out a confidential Scholarship Request Form, which requests general information about the family’s financial situation. Information on the Scholarship Request Form – and any scholarship awarded – is kept strictly confidential. Only the Scholarship Committee (Director, CPA Presidents, and Treasurer) is privy to the information, and it is used only for the purpose of making scholarship awards.
•The Scholarship Committee awards scholarships by considering the student’s need and available scholarship funds, and using the following guidelines:
- All students are expected to pay the tour deposit.
- Scholarships should not exceed half of the tour cost unless there are exceptional circumstances.
•If the scholarships awarded in a given year are less than the amount in the Scholarship Fund, the remaining funds can be carried over to the following year but must remain in the Scholarship Fund category. The amount of carryover is to be calculated and included in the CPA meeting minutes.
•If the need for scholarships in a given year is greater than the amount in the Scholarship Fund, the Scholarship Committee can also award scholarships from CPA’s general funds, so long as the members of the Scholarship Committee unanimously agree. In making this determination, the Scholarship Committee should consider the amount of general funds needed and impact that using these funds will have on other CPA needs.
Approved by the Choral Parents Association on11/16/15