Schools Chief Lifts Suspension of High School Marching Bands

The marching band can go back to doing what it does best.

In an announcement Wednesday, DeKalb County Schools superintendent Cheryl Atkinson lifted the suspension of student marching band activities, effective immediately.

The suspension of marching band activities in December came a month after the death due to suspected hazing of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion, who was a Southwest DeKalb high school alumnus.

Wednesday's announcement stated that the school system investigation of band programs will go on. However, "student activities will resume as normal," the announcement states.

The announcement said that senior staff has identified areas that the school system needs to look in in order to ensure that policies against intimidation and harassment are being followed. "And at this stage, senior staff is confident that student activities can go on as planned," the announcement stated.

The announcement also included the following information:

"We have met with our high school principals and band directors to ensure everyone understands their responsibilities in terms of protecting our students, and that we are all are accountable for enforcing School System policies when it comes to students and band activity.

We are all in agreement that marching band can be a highly positive part of campus life at DeKalb Schools. We are proud of our bands.

Ultimately, we expect that that this process will be a teaching and learning experience for our band programs. And at the conclusion of our investigation, we hope to say that as a School System we have done our due diligence to guarantee that band is a fun and healthy experience for our students and the community."