As someone who was in band from the 3rd grade to 12th. Marching band from 9th-12th, here is my assessment.
1) This is just stupid.
2) I hope each unit is property vented because there is lots of air being exhaled while playing an instrument
3) Is each pod assigned to 1 student? Or disinfected well between usages?
4) To play outside is an option, but then you have to factor in the wind, which blows sheet music off the stand. And to clip the music on is cumbersome because pages need to be flipped very quickly. Then factor in noise pollution. And the weather. Rain does not mix well with woodwind based instruments. I think the main is the noise pollution. The bandrooms are soundproof or well dampened at least.
5) Tuba guy, pretty much explains every tuba player for all time. Even pre COVID (band joke)
6) How many scholarships did COVID ruin, plus sports scholarships and any other organizations that could not assemble due to covid. I know UH offers a 1/3 tuition schollarship for underclassmen. And 2/3 for seniors.
7) Add in the dampening of the sound because they are in a pod. Trumpets,sax, trombone, drums not to bad, but flutes, clarinets, tuba, piccolo all will be less able to hear.
IDK if being in a pod will affect the players ears because the sound may be louder to them. I have never played in an enclosed area that small. At most it was a hallway, but even that was super loud. So I can imagine the loudness resonating inside the pod. Which means the players will have to play softer and refer to the above and not being able to play to their full potential.
9) Seems like they have to stand. Classical music really isn't designed to play standing for 1 hour or longer. Marching band type music, yes. Standing fatigues you faster which can affect the breath and posture. Almost all instruments, posture is very important. Now this could be a "make due until we figure stuff out, playing something is better than nothing", then in that case it's probably OK.
10) In the bands that I've been in, the entire band had the same class period. So there was no half play X period and the other half play Y period. We also did have after school practice 2-3x a week. For marching band, it was 1 weekday after school practice and Sunday.
11) I can guarantee the pic was taken before the class even started. I've been in many different bandrooms and all have super cold AC. None have windows due to the sound suppression needed. So probably within 10 minutes of playing everyone's clear plastic of the pod probably fogged up, especially the tuba guy. The cold air plus warmer air being expelled in the pod would cause this. Which would not only have a gross stale air feeling inside the pod, but being able to see the conductor would be impaired.
So in the end, what is the solution to band being allowed to play again? Either play normally at reduced capacity to allow for the magical 6 feet, or not at all. These pods are not a solution. Depending on where the school is located, outdoors might be better, but they will have to figure out the noise problem. Maybe go door to door letting neighbors know they will be playing between X times. Or assemble in an area farthest away. And of course weather permitting. Make due with the wind problem. If it rains, cancel. And the logistics of practicing outdoors. Brass and woodwinds not too much of an issue, but percussion has lots of equipment. And factor in carrying the music stands and chairs. But I guess you can leave the chairs behind just to make due. Even playing right outside the bandroom takes lots of effort to move stuff outside and have to bring it back inside. Especially if the class periods are only an hour.
Or after school practices which are already common. But you would have to increase it to more than 2x a week. So those playing sports or other extra curricular activities have to plan accordingly. When I played JV football, my conductor was a dick. Made me come to the varsity game and play in the pep band for the vars football team. So after my game was done, I got permission from each stadiums AD to allow me to shower and change clothes and eat quickly in the locker room. My parents would take my football gear to the car and bring my instrument and food. I then stayed for the varsity game to play in the band.
Then for baseball, a few (3 starters) of us had to come to practice late 2x a week by about 1 hour late due to mandatory band practice that was graded. Our coach told us to choose band (school) or baseball. We choose school and he got fired a week later.
So the story is not all extra curricular teachers/coaches are understanding. So if the band meets more after school, it can have scheduling issues.
*edit added info:
Then you get into the missing partial or all of sports practice due to band (school) practice. So you may lose your starting position on the team.
There are 2 types of starters:
1) The natural athlete who is good at the sport. This person typically starts as a freshman for JV or as a junior on varsity. This guy can miss practice or show up late and still have his position.
2) The not natural athlete. This is the guy who practices harder than the guy above, but will never be as good. But is good enough to earn a starting position, usually in their sophomore year for JV or senior year for varsity because they are older than the younger guys. They ride the bench as a freshman on JV or a junior on varsity. So it's important for this guy to come on time to every practice, or he can/will lose his position until he earns it back.
I was #2 for both football and baseball. But the after school band practices didn't start yet for football season. I did miss 3 days of football practice because I got sick once. It took a week to earn my positions back.
For baseball. Luckily, the 2nd string guys were shitty, so I didn't lose my position when coming late or missing totally due to after school band practice.
For wrestling, I was the only guy in my weight class so kept the job by default.