Southern York County Life

What is the cost of a new Steinway piano?  I have a Kimball and people are suggesting I get a Steinway.  What is the appropriate age to start a youngster with piano lessons?  I am hearing 7 or 8 years old.  I want to get a little one started.

Hard to say but a basic new one will likely cost a minimum of $45,000.  You can find used for $15,000.  7 sounds about right for starting lessons.

Funny you should ask this.  SESD is looking at buying a $100,000 Steinway (full) grand piano.  I did some research on pianos, since I feel this is a frivolous expense.  Most dealers do not publish their prices.  But I did find:

From:
http://www.homeissues.com/cgi-bin/viewarticle.cgi?article=79&category=3
Steinway grand pianos start just under $30,000. Steinway also makes Boston, a line of piano which sells for around $14,000 and is more competitive with
a grand piano market. (These prices are for grands.  If you’re interested in a baby grand or an upright, they would be less - I would thnk.)

From:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/1998/11/01/250316/index.htm
If your heart is set on a grand, prepare to dig deep into your pockets. At a minimum, you’ll have to spend nearly $10,000 for a well-crafted model. (You
could drop $75,000 on a top-of-the-line instrument.) What you get for this hefty price tag is a better tone than an upright produces. Not only are the
strings longer, but the open lid lets the sound better fill a room. Of course, if money is no object and performance and craftsmanship are your
foremost criteria, head for a Steinway dealer.

Speaking of SESD and Steinways --- Our tax money is being saved in a “savings account” through “left over funds” from individual school budgets in SESD to save for the Steinway, among other things.  Dr. Shank thinks that gettig a Steinway full grand piano for $100,000 is a “deal” considering that they cost more than that.  How is spending $100,000 of tax money on a piano a “deal” when the “saved” money could be applied for educational purposes or other budget necessities instead of raising our taxes?

Marge - 18 June 2008 10:38 PM

Funny you should ask this.  SESD is looking at buying a $100,000 Steinway (full) grand piano.  I did some research on pianos, since I feel this is a frivolous expense.  Most dealers do not publish their prices.  But I did find:

From:
http://www.homeissues.com/cgi-bin/viewarticle.cgi?article=79&category=3
Steinway grand pianos start just under $30,000. Steinway also makes Boston, a line of piano which sells for around $14,000 and is more competitive with
a grand piano market. (These prices are for grands.  If you’re interested in a baby grand or an upright, they would be less - I would thnk.)

From:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/1998/11/01/250316/index.htm
If your heart is set on a grand, prepare to dig deep into your pockets. At a minimum, you’ll have to spend nearly $10,000 for a well-crafted model. (You
could drop $75,000 on a top-of-the-line instrument.) What you get for this hefty price tag is a better tone than an upright produces. Not only are the
strings longer, but the open lid lets the sound better fill a room. Of course, if money is no object and performance and craftsmanship are your
foremost criteria, head for a Steinway dealer.

I found a site where a guy buys and restores old pianos.  There are a couple of Steinways on here and he has a 1941 Steinway “S” Grand Piano fully restored and warrantied for $18,900 and he gives discounts to police and fire departments.  I am sure that the school would get a discount too. 

One comment that he makes on his site is: “When we saw this vintage all-original Steinway grand for sale, we knew we had to have it. Notice the flawless set of original ivory keytops and gorgeous mahogany cabinet. This piano has obviously lived a pampered life. It will add a touch of class to any home whose owners are smart enough to buy it. A new Model “S” with a mahogany finish lists for $47,200. Do you honestly think that a new Steinway will sound, play and look over $23,000 better than this one? Do you think a new Steinway has a better warranty? They don’t, in fact, new Steinways only have a five-year warranty on parts and labor while Rick Jones Pianos warranty is always ten years on all parts and labor for EVERY piano we sell.”

http://rickjonespianos.com/grands.htm

The school should contact this guy for sure!

My daughter actually started lessons at age 5.  But music was in her genes with my wife’s side of the family being very musically inclined.  It depends on each child.  My other daughters have shown no interest in playing at all.  We had a very good teacher for 13 years in Whitehall, but she is not taking on any new students as she moves slowly into retirement. 

For all of these years, my daughter practiced on an old school piano that we kept tuned and she learned to play very well. 

Good luck.

What if any oversight is done with the school spending money?

What size grand piano are they looking at? I guess that would factor into the costs too....

Article in YDR
http://www.inyork.com/ci_9687503?source=most_viewed

What residents don’t understand is that the piano’s cost has no impact on this year’s tax rate, Childress said. The piano is being paid for out of the district’s reserve capital fund budget, where taxpayer money has been socked away “over time” in anticipation of buying this particular piano, she explained.

Something must have an impact on my taxes since they keep going up while the enrollment doesn’t!

If this passes, I think that we should do whatever we need to do to have a recall vote of EVERY school board member that votes yes.  I have always been a supporter of Dr. Shank, but if she really thinks this is something that is needed she needs to get her head examined as the last thing she does with her district paid health insurance on her way out the door! 

This is the most idiotic waste of money that I have seen yet!  Businesses are struggling to stay afloat, homes are going into foreclosure, houses are sitting for sale for 3 years because the taxes are too high and these morons are actually debating whether or not to buy a $100,000 piano!

It is time to get a mob together and light the torches!

What residents don’t understand is that the piano’s cost has no impact on this year’s tax rate, Childress said. The piano is being paid for out of the district’s reserve capital fund budget, where taxpayer money has been socked away “over time” in anticipation of buying this particular piano, she explained.

What a crock of crap. Sorry but this is pure and utter BS. While it might not affect this years rate, what about next years when they need more money for some other insane expense? We don’t need this. Like the citizens of the community, they will have to learn to get by on less. While I want the kids to have a good education, the quality of the piano won’t affect how well they learn. How many people around here learned to play on Grandmom’s old upright that was in dire need of a good tuning?

How many of us have changed our shopping habits due to tight budgets? How many of the citizens in this district had to resort to shopping at Goodwill, Ollies, Salvation Army, etc. in order to make ends meet? How many of us are not going on vacation because we can’t afford the fuel costs?

At what point do they finally get it? Maybe when the board members start losing their homes to foreclosure? I just got my school tax bill… it included my homestead exemption but that was eaten up with the increase.

Go to the school board meetings and get involved, please.  I truely thought it had to be a rumor about the piano - it, and so many other things are truely just unbelievable.

This will be voted on at the school board meeting Thursday night (June 26th).  It is on the agenda along with 2 - 24’ x 64’ modular double classrooms @ $181,459 and the realignment of the 4th grade to SEMS West.

Ok, how do 2 modular classrooms cost that much?  Whta time do the meetings start, which building are they in?

School board meetings start @ 7:30 in the administration building behind SEMS East.

I want to make it clear that the modulars are a total cost of $181,459, not each.