What universities forget to tell new high school band directors

Picture this:  The school year starts tomorrow and you are the new band director in town.  Guess what?  Your pep band is scheduled to perform in 2 weeks.  No problem you say..but wait.
It is the first first day of class and as you talk to your students about the responsibility of being a dedicated band member,  you discover that between the football team, the volleyball team, the cross country team, and cheerleaders,  80% of your band students can’t perform with the pep band.  As the panic sets in,  you think..oh, I’ll just not perform.  Unfortunately, ‘just not perform’ is not an option. If you think that admin and the community has sympathy for your situation, I’ll sell you a bridge in Brooklyn cheap.  You have to put it together…so where do you start?
Perhaps your most difficult task will be to find pep band music that is playable by your now depleted band.  How do you find band director sheet music for pep band written in such a way that the lead lines which are normally played by trumpets are doubled by other instruments so that the melody is heard even when you are down to 2 trumpet players?  This is not so easy if you limit your search to most pop tune arrangements available today at major publishing houses.  And to further complicate the issue, if you are able to find a suitable title at a publishing house, often the price of printed sheet music is prohibitive.  Remember…you’re the newbie.  It’s not easy to ask your principal for money when you’ve only been on the job for a couple weeks.
One possible solution and a solution that I encourage you to explore is to check out the secondary market of music publishers for appropriate music at cheap prices.  There are several online music firms that offer quality downloadable music at great prices and these firms should not be overlooked.
One firm which stands out is PDF Band Music at https://pdfbandmusic.com.  Their music is instantly downloadable and is cheap. They even offer a complete beginning band system titled Sound Fundamentals at no cost.  Check them out.
Once you survive those first public performances you’ll get the kind of administrative and community support you need to build your program and the memories of those initial problems will fade.  You’ll love being a band director.  It’s a great job.