Talks have begun on whether Shoreline School District high school ASB money should be used to fund ASB staff positions, including activity coordinators and the ASB/athletics coordinators.
The proposal, put forth this summer by the teacher’s union, is one more way the district, squeezed by a budget crunch, could save money.
ASB funds are raised by students through ASB cards, fundraisers and ticket sales. The money is spent on student activities, including sports, clubs, dances and trips.
ASB students at Shorecrest High School, who caught wind of the proposal earlier this year, oppose it.
“Paying for staff is the job of the district,” said Noah Lerner, ASB vice president at Shorecrest. “The money students spend should go to students and not to staff.”
The mood at the high school, at least among the ASB students, has been tense because of the effects of the budget crunch in recent years, Lerner said.
“Everything about money is tense and heated,” he said. “This just feels like the district is taking something from us yet again.”
This past summer, the district and the Shoreline Education Association, or SEA, was in tough contract negotiations that almost led to a strike. The union suggested several ways to save money, including using ASB funds to fund ASB staff positions.
District officials promised the union they would discuss the matter with high school principals and students.
It’s not a decision that can be made unilaterally, said Marcia Harris, deputy superintendent.
The district has committed to talking to students about the issue, though it’s too early in the process to comment on how they will be involved, Harris said.
Discussions have begun between district officials and principals.
“Students have raised this money,” Harris said. “This is not the principals’ private fund. We want to honor what (students) have raised — we don’t want to predict the outcome.”
Legally, ASB staff can be paid for with ASB funds, she said.
Britt Harris, ASB advisor at Shorecrest, said that there are savings in the school’s ASB fund, but much of it is already allocated for future spending, for example, senior prom.
“(District officials) see the bottom line but they don’t realize it’s set aside for something specific,” she said.
The money is also meant for unforeseen events. For example, the last time the school band went to Ireland, the exchange rate changed. The ASB had to eat that unforeseen cost.
“We’ve been frugal over the years,” Britt Harris said. “We have money because we’ve been so careful.”
Shorecrest’s ASB fund is managed by ASB/athletics coordinator Nancy Velie.
“Certainly we see it as reasonable to expect that if these staff are in charge of managing the (ASB) funds that they are paid for at least partially out of ASB funds,” said Elizabeth Beck, co-president of the Shoreline Education Association.
She said that using ASB funds to fund at least part of ASB staff positions is not an uncommon practice.
In the Northshore School District, ASB funds pay for half the cost of the ASB bookkeepers at the three high schools. This has been the case for several years, and was the result of budget cuts, said Susan Stoltzfus, director of communication for the Northshore School District.
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