I feel sorry for teachers who are expected to go above and beyond, with resources limited by constrained budgets, who are not (presumingly) given the respect of a simple face-to-face meeting before being blown out of the water.
The OP has no idea who has else has been breathing down her neck (could be the principal) or what kind of pressures she has been facing to do more with less. Maybe the choreographer is flaky because the choreographer is volunteering her time, whereas in the past she was paid or it was another person doing it. Maybe different levels are being consolidated because there is only so much in the budget to rent X number of choir books (or whatever they call sheet music for choirs). Maybe the school can’t afford the prices of more advanced compositions (ensemble music is often rented, for those who don’t know). Maybe so many kids have signed up for chorus that she has no choice but to merge groups. Maybe this is the new policy at central office, and the teacher is simply carrying out instructions that everyone else in the district is following.
I was in high school orchestra at a performing arts school. Believe me, I know about dramedy. I saw classmates literally fall out on the floor in writhing hysterics during chair auditions because the pressure (all of it internalized) was too much for them. I almost busted some girl in the head over some orchestra solo-stealing nonsense. And guess what? Despite all the drama, NONE of the people in my orchestra, AFAIK, went on to become a professional musicians. (Though the concert master did become this guy.) I think maybe one of them became a music teacher, but that’s about it.
We had an elite group too, for awhile. It folded because 1) elite groups require a lot of work for EVERYONE involved. And guess what? Kids who are good at one thing tend to also dabble in other things. Like sports or academic team. So good luck getting everyone to meet (or even perform) when they’re supposed to. Also, look at how well the football coach is compensated for his time versus the music teacher before drawing comparisons. 2) Elite groups often engender hard feelings. The politics can be unnerving for everyone involved. And though the sports analogy should make apply, for some reason it doesn’t. Maybe it’s because private lessons play a huge role in who is good and who isn’t, and the kids who take private lessons often happen to be more well-to-do. So what happens is that the kids who are trumped out for all the glossy pictures, the field trips, the competitions, the special pizza parties, and the “We are Family” t-shirts are the same kids who need these things the least, while the kids who can’t afford private lessons are resigned to sitting in the shadows, only earning class credit and never doing anything “fun”. This doesn’t happen in sports, but it sure does happen in music.
I don’t know how a school deals with it, other than to try to do what it sounds like the teacher is trying to do.
My opinion is this: You want to be elite? You take private lessons and wow the socks off the audition judges at Oberlin or Julliard. It’s not like a college scout is going to come to your holiday concert and think, “Wow, she’s really got pipes” while you’re singing along with everyone else. After my sophomore year, my high school did away with the special chamber orchestra, and it was a win-win for everyone. The kids who weren’t in the group didn’t have to feel left out of the festivities. The teacher didn’t have to work his ass off trying to impress people who couldn’t distinguish Handel from Dvorak to save their lives. And the elite kids didn’t have to feel pressure to practice at the expense of academic coursework or assignments from their own private lessons. They still got to be section leaders though, which I’m guessing choirs don’t have. But I imagine that a “combined” group would still have opportunities for soloists.