"The parents are absolutely justified in their perspective that their student is being treated unfairly." I see it as the opposite. I see this as their child is being treated extremely fair--he is being required to do exactly as all the other members, nothing more and nothing less. The PARENTS are demanding he be treated "unfairly" by wanting him to have a special privilege not offered to the other students. They were aware of the requirement when they allowed him to become part of the top ensemble. If he is allowed to "opt out" of the required lesson program, a precedent will be set which will make requiring the lessons from the director/staff-approved instructors become immediately unenforceable. Now, that being said, perhaps a new policy could be considered that requires lessons from any instructor approved and vetted by the director, not just the ones provided by the district. If worded and implemented correctly, it could end up that the "other" lesson teachers don't meet the level of expertise needed for top ensemble performance. *wink wink*