EVERETT – Students saw more than $93,000 fizzle away with their Mountain Dew in the first year of a district-wide ban on sales of pop and junk food.
School leaders say the price is worth the principle, by modeling the healthy choices they preach in classes while addressing concerns over childhood obesity.
Keeping their promise, school board members voted to fully cover the financial drain on Associated Student Body funds this year. They also will cover 50 percent of the estimated losses for the 2005-06 school year.
After that, ASB groups are on their own.
Money from ASB groups pays for student clubs and many of the expenses racked up by athletics and music departments.
Students say they are grateful for the district’s help. Still, the losses already are taking a toll.
Students on clubs and sports teams are now being asked to help pay their way to conventions and competitions. The ASB used to pay for those trips, including transportation and lodging.
“We’ve had to ask them to come up with more … of their own money, which is frustrating because not all students are able to do that,” said Kaley Mitchell, 18, senior class president at Henry M. Jackson High School.
Jackson will get $27,707 from the district to make up for its losses, though Mitchell said the actual loss was probably higher. Students have thrown around ideas for future fundraisers, such as a jog-a-thon or gift-wrapping campaign. One frontrunner is a school bazaar.
“But, you know, as much as we keep coming up with ideas, the money is such a huge issue,” Mitchell said. She helped organize a large “battle of the bands” event last week to benefit the senior prom. The time-consuming event expected to gross $1,000 at most.
At Everett High School, there is $18,141 less to divide among the many student clubs – which include the cheerleading squad, National Honors Society and groups focused on cars, Latino heritage, school spirit, floral design and many others.
Vending machine earnings there are down 66 percent from a year ago, with $4,617 earned this year compared with $13,445 by this time last year, treasurer and staff member Criss Bowsher said.
That’s an average of $650 per month. Last year the banned snacks were bringing in an additional $700 per month.
“It’s devastating. It’s a real sock to us,” Bowsher said.
At Cascade High School, student leaders have been closely examining clubs’ requests for money, which include a guest painter for the Art Club and tuning a piano three times a year for the music department.
“It has been a big commotion,” said Elliot Gaskin, 17, a senior and ASB president. “I think it’s kind of a confusing thing for students.”
The Cascade ASB organized a forum where administrators fielded students’ questions. “The seats were filled,” he said.
Cascade is getting $29,362 from the district to make up for its losses – food for thought, Gaskin said. “It’s quite a bit of money to be making off people buying pop.”
A self-professed health nut, Gaskin said he never bought pop.
“But I do remember every trash can in classrooms being filled with pop bottles. Now they’re empty,” he said.
Superintendent Carol Whitehead said the district contributions buy students time to figure out how to adjust their budgets, not unlike the process the district goes through each year. “It’s a learning experience for the students,” she said.
Everett students aren’t the only ones seeing pop sales go flat.
Lynnwood High School this year also banned pop and unhealthy snacks, an independent move in the Edmonds School District. The ASB group will lose roughly $25,000 in commissions as a result, activities coordinator Andrew Burton said.
In response, the school next year will raise fees for parking permits and ASB cards, which allow students into school events. Under the proposal, fees will go up from $25 to $40 for an ASB card and $30 for a parking permit.
But it won’t be enough, Burton said. He said they have not decided on further cuts yet.
Indeed, ASB leaders in Everett say the true test will come in future years as district financial support disappears. Some hold hope the healthier snacks will prove popular, driving revenue back up. And the district is currently negotiating for higher returns on milk and juice.
But fees could become a solution there, too.
Everett sports teams do not charge “pay to play” participation fees, for example, but they are being discussed, said Doug Kloke, athletics director at Cascade.
For now, the athletics department at Cascade is looking at using vans instead of buses for trips and cutting down on the number of non-league weekend tournaments in which it competes.
Meanwhile, the Marysville School District has a committee looking at nutrition policies there. School board member Michael Kundu is among those pushing to remove pop, and the ASB losses elsewhere haven’t changed his mind.
Districts in California have found ways to make up for the difference, he said.
“The reality is health stays with you for life,” Kundu said. “Candidly, the ASB funds come and go when the year’s done.”
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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