Parents of Mineola High School band students made a plea to the school board last Thursday to pay for the balance due on the 2021 state marching band championship rings.

Band boosters Margaret Prince and Eric Carrington addressed the board during public forum, which does not allow for discussion or questions by the board.

Prince said the various fundraising efforts have netted $9,408, which includes $3,000 from the band boosters.

The remaining balance is $25,276.

Many families cannot afford the roughly $300 cost of the rings, she said, and it would be a shame for them to be left out.

The students have worked hard to earn them, she added. And the band represents a benefit to the community as families consider where to move.

Carrington echoed the amount of hours the students put in.

He said much of the fundraising efforts have been supported primarily by band parents.

He said that two other state championship bands in the region had from half to two-thirds of the cost of their rings paid by those school districts.

He also noted the expense of the 2016 state championship football rings borne by the district.

Business Manager William Bjork clarified on Friday that MISD received more than $18,000 in gate receipts from the state championship football game at AT&T Stadium, which, when combined with donations, was enough to pay for the rings without any other district funds.

The district does not receive any gate receipts from the state marching contest held at the Alamodome.

Band Director Chris Brannan said the rings have been at the administration office since the first of February awaiting payment so they can be distributed.

“There is no difference than last two times (when the band won in 2017 and 2019) except for this time we are asking the school to cover the difference after the donations instead of putting that burden on these kids and families,” Brannan said.

“I have had multiple conversations with (Superintendent Cody) Mize and admin starting in November requesting the school to pay.”

On Monday Mize said the district is looking at ways to help pay for the rings.

“We have been exploring a variety of funding options which include donations and grants from other organizations up until this point,” he said. “I did some research on Friday and there was a rule change at UIL in 2015 that allows school districts to pay for state championship rings for students. Lots of people were under the assumption you couldn’t gift a student a certain dollar amount.”

“We are now exploring avenues within the budget to be able to cover the cost. In the future, we will need to budget a certain amount for rings during state competition years.”