[The following information was emailed over the weekend, but is being reposted here in case there are some parents whose email addresses are not up to date in our Charms system.]

Dear parents,

I have received quite a few inquiries regarding refunds from Music Travel as a result of the canceled Gatlinburg trip. You should all have received a partial refund directly from Music Travel already. The amount of this refund is dependent on the amount you paid directly to Music Travel and whether or not you purchased trip insurance.

The portion of the payment which was made by the Music Boosters on behalf of your student was refunded back to the Boosters. This, however, was not done by electronic transfer but rather by paper check which was sent to the high school. Over the summer, mail which is sent directly to the various school buildings, as opposed to the district office, is held at the post office until the buildings open again at the beginning of the school year, at which point it is delivered to the school building, sorted and distributed. As you can imagine, this is a huge volume of mail and there is no way to identify any one given item at the post office. Obviously I am not able to issue any type of refund until I actually receive the refund. I will do everything possible however to expedite this process.

How the refund from Music Travel is going to be handled was on the agenda for our upcoming general booster meeting. Because of the uptick in COVID 19 cases recently, we have been forced to postpone that meeting. It will be rescheduled at the Community Park as soon as we get word from the governor’s office that such assemblies are allowed and we can do it safely. I would urge all band parents, whether you are active booster members or not, to come to this meeting. There are very important items on the agenda related to future fundraising as well as the disposition of funds that have been previously generated by students. It is vital that we obtain input and participation from as many parents as possible so that we can all work together to support our music program. Dates and times will be posted on the Team App as soon as they become available.

Thank you for your patience,
Joseph A Solomito
Treasurer, Madison Music Boosters