This past spring, H.B.415 was passed by the Utah State Legislature. The goal of H.B.415 was to make public schools more affordable. H.B.415 denies schools the ability to charge an activity fee of $30 at the beginning of the year. This fee has been used as the primary source to fund dances and other after-school activities. But now, schools are experiencing the effects of this bill, and Highland is no exception.
Due to limited funds, Highland was forced to cancel the annual Halloween stomp. And it might not be the only cancellation as other dances are at risk of the same fate.
“Honestly, I’m kind of sad that this had to get cancelled,” George Smith (senior at Highland) said.
The only way to be able to hold the dance was to sell enough tickets to cover the cost. The plan was for each student who was hoping to attend the event to buy a $5 ticket in advance. For the past two weeks, Highland principal Jeremy Chatterton has been announcing this new update and the Highland SBOs have posted about it on their Instagram account. On Thursday, October 24, two days before the Halloween stomp, a total of nine wristbands had been bought.
The SBOs had no choice but to cancel.
“We are really trying to get the dances less costly for students,” Julie Davidson (Highland SBO Coordinator) said, “We are just as frustrated as anybody is. We are definitely disappointed, but we had to go off the number.”
Typically, student fees provide enough funding to cover the costs. But not anymore, after the passing of H.B. 415.
Each dance and stomp is expensive. A stomp averages between $6,000-8,000, and a formal dance costs between $16,000-20,000. Highland is responsible for finding and paying chaperones and security to attend the event, paying custodians to work overtime, a D.J. to provide entertainment and hype up the crowd, and a venue for both winters and prom. With Highland starting at zero dollars because of the cut in activity funding, the administration and SBOs decided to start charging students so they could come up with enough money to host dances this year.
Ticket prices are the best way to offset costs, but when students did not buy them in advance, the SBOs did not have the funds needed. As the student government met to decide what to do on the matter, a vote was held to decide whether or not to cancel the stomp. It was almost unanimous to cancel.
SBO president Anthony Lords said that the cancelling of the Halloween stomp is sad and unfortunate. He hopes that more students will buy tickets in advance for the future dance, and that Highland can find the money to provide these fun opportunities, such as dances, to students.
“I just really want people to know that the dances are for them; it’s just another excuse to go hang out with friends and have fun,” Lords said. “And I really want people to have fun at the dances because that’s one of the things you will remember when you get older.”
Other ways Highland hopes to save money is with volunteer chaperones. There has been a huge shortage in chaperones as Highland can’t pay extra to people who come to supervise the event. Anywhere from 12 to 15 chaperones are required to attend the event. Davidson mentioned a possible solution is for the community to get involved. Parents, guardians, or teachers could come and volunteer to help chaperone, but unless this happens, it stands as a major obstacle this year as the SBOs try to plan dances and fund them.
The SBOs at Highland put in countless hours to set up a dance, find fundraising opportunities, and help hire the D.J.s. Many of them were frustrated that the dance was being forced to cancel because of an economic issue.
Sam Meikle, a current Highland SBO, is now doing his best to tell everyone to buy tickets for Sadie Hawkins the next dance at Highland (November 15).
In the past, before H.B.415, the $30 fee for students not only funded the dance, but allowed Highland to provide busing for students who could not provide the means to get themselves to the dance. The dances went from having 200-300 students attend to nearly 1,500 students. H.B.415, might cause these numbers to travel back down to the low hundreds if a change is not made.
Because of these budget cuts and discouraging numbers, reserving a venue for the winter formal is now out of the question. This also leaves all other stomps and even formal dances at risk for being cancelled. If this happens, Highland will only have three more dances this year instead of its traditional six.
“I am so proud that the administration has been so kind and supportive considering the situation we are stuck in this year,” Meikle said.
For students who want to attend all dances, it will cost $75. Before the passage of H.B. 415, a student only had to pay $30 to attend all dances and other after-school activities.
