There are extra expenses to participate in most extracurricular activities at Cypress High School. Fundraisers are constantly being held, but even with those extra funds provided by the district and community, there is often a shortage of money.
ASB
For all ASB students at Cypress High School, there is a mandatory three-day overnight summer camp for the cost of $400. The camp is held at a college or university where food, room, and board, as well as camp activities and supplies, are provided. All schools in AUHSD participate in the three-day camp, with the main purpose to educate the students on running a student government. Team bonding, breaking the ice, creating trust in “one space” and leadership skills are greatly emphasized.
According to Ms. Sarah Binford, the Activities Director, our school has “the most cost-effective camp” compared to the schools that attend camps with a price tag of $500-$600. For example, the CADA/CASL Camp located in Santa Barbara costs $540.00 for the “Early Bird Special,” $590.00 “regular” with $610.00 for late registration. The cost of the camp is set by the Leadership Inspiration organization in conjunction with AUHSD. According to Binford, hosting camps in our home school would be the same cost, if not more expensive, than at a college campus because Leadership Inspirations can offer multiple guest speakers, have all camp activities as well as a chance to interact with the other AUHSD schools while at the camp. Binford and current ASB President Aimee Bunsirisert praise it as an “experience” that’s worth the price and is essential to begin the school year working as a team. Bunsirisert also pointed out a lot of the homecoming planning is done at the camp. Binford added during the ASB information meeting that the expensive cost shouldn’t be a hindrance, “It shouldn’t be a hindrance to not apply, it shouldn’t be an obstacle,” she said.
Overall, both Binford and Bunsirisert, agree that they understand the cost to be a part of student government is expensive and, ultimately, “ASB is a choice.”
Band
To attend the summer camp and be a part of the band class for the entire year, students need to pay $1,000, but they can also offset that amount by helping with bingo night and other fundraising. The reason for the high cost is that a lot of what the band does is not funded by the district, leaving them to pay most expenses by themselves. Transportation, design costs, and extra walk-on coaches are necessary for the class if they want to perform as much as they do currently. The band director, James Quirion, is the only full-time director at Cypress, and managing such a big band can be difficult without the extra help.
Other expenses that are expected to be paid by students are clothing, accessories, shoes, and gloves. Instruments and marching band uniforms are provided by the district, as well as a little money but according to Quirion, that hardly covers much. “We still have a lot of unfunded mandates of what we do,” Quirion stated.
Choir
In Choir, the booster organization calculated an annual budget consisting of all expenses for the year, and looks at the potential income from future fundraising then decides how much to ask of students via “The Fair Share.” The Fair Share can add up to hundreds of dollars depending on the year and the level of choir. Students have the option to pay up front or in installments. Sparks, the beginner division, is asked $100 worth of Fair Share. Pink Thunder, the intermediate division, is asked for $300. High Voltage, the advanced choir, is also asked for $300. In addition, students are asked to pay for their makeup and shoes for each performance.
According to the choir teacher, Mrs. Hollie Jones, students are not required to pay these donations but, if they want nice things, they must contribute. “It’s if they want nice costumes, or they want to continue to have money to go places or do things, but it’s not like I’m forcing [them.]”
SPORTS
Tennis
Boys and girls tennis coach Mr. Joe Paul says that compared to other sports offered at Cypress High School, his program, by nature, can keep the cost down. In tennis, the student supplies their own rackets, shoes, and practice gear, except the program provides practice t-shirts for their players. The program pays for tennis balls, nets, uniforms, and the cost for the players to be able to attend the team banquet. They also try to keep the cost low by making the summer camp $100 for seven weeks total. Their tennis balls last three weeks before they go flat and need to be replaced, and they go through 15 cases of balls each season, with each case $125. Every 3-5 years, the courts need to be repainted, which would be an extra $4800 per court. They supply this money to pay off these expenses via fundraisers, donations, and social media because, according to Paul, “The goal is not to have any kid have to pay money out of pocket…We keep it down to as much as we can.”
Paul says that is unlike other sports and activities at Cypress that have very strict and costly requirements such as tournament fees and officials. He wants to keep the prices down for the benefit of the students and parents. Paul stated, “High-quality athletics programs are expensive to run.”
Golf
Golf is an expensive sport. It requires money to practice on the course, to set up matches, to get balls and jerseys, but the golf coach, Ms. Susan Metry, says she doesn’t charge players anything. Students supply their own clubs, but that’s it. According to Metry, her entire program relies entirely on donations and fundraisers, so she has to rely on other people for her program to continue. As of now, she said she isn’t getting the donations she hoped for, “Golf is expensive, and the program relies on donations.” Metry says she might consider creating a camp for the sport to raise funds, “We can no longer require people to pay for a sport so, relying on donations is key for our team.”
What the Principal Has to Say About the Prices
Cypress’s third-year principal, Mrs. Jennifer Brown, said the costs for most extracurricular activities aren’t decided by the teachers or the school; they’re decided by the needs of the program. Boosters or other non-profit organizations run by volunteer parents, control the costs for many activities and programs. They decide what to charge students based on the overhead costs to host these activities and run the athletic programs. As Brown put it, “they charge the lowest amount they possibly can to cover their costs.”
Boosters is an outside organization that supports most school activities and sports. One example is a sports camp, the sports boosters have to rent the field, ensure the right equipment is available, pay for umpires for games, and pay the coaches to run the camp. These items are all costs to the boosters, so their camp price needs to cover these costs. Camp is also a fundraiser for the sport, so they can make money from the camp to upkeep the fields above the basic standards, pay for top-of-the-line equipment, etc. Brown said, “You have to spend money to have the high-quality programs we offer, and in order to spend money, it means you have to earn money, it’s that whole cycle.” Cypress constantly does fundraisers, takes sponsorships, and works with foundations to help pay for things, even the Athletic Booster Club (ABC) raises money from a bingo hall to help out, but teams still have costs beyond the funds raised to make ends meet. “We’re doing everything we can to supplant the request for donations from families. Unfortunately, it’s just never enough,” said Brown.
While no student will ever be denied participation due to the inability to contribute financially to a program, with the constant price increase for everything, it’s getting harder every year to squeeze by. The coaches don’t know how much a student contributes financially, only boosters know, and they don’t keep individual accounts. Brown says, “The coaches don’t get that information. It’s a completely separate thing, and that’s on purpose because the monetary contributions of a player shouldn’t influence a coach.”
The sad reality is that a typical public school district isn’t able to fund sports programs at the caliber in which Cypress High School competes. “Even if districts wanted to be able to pay for everything at this high level, they don’t have a budget for that. It just doesn’t exist.” If everything were free, then the programs we offer would be at the free level standard, as she said, “Unfortunately, in today’s society, you get what you pay for.” As Brown stated, “Through tax dollars, we do everything we can, and then when it doesn’t cover everything, we have to find other means, and unfortunately, some of it does end up going back to asking the families for financial donations, which is hard. We don’t want that, but we’re stuck.”
Brown stated she ultimately wants what’s best for the students and their families, she never wants to ask families to contribute but to give them the high-quality programs that we offer here at Cypress she has to ask for their help. “What we charge for events, admission, etc., is just enough to cover our budget and a little bit of cushion…We don’t charge more than what things cost. Here at Cypress, our goal is to provide the highest quality programs and events for our students. Sometimes we have to ask for help to make that happen and we are grateful to our families for their support in helping us make that goal a reality for our students!”
Everything has a cost, but it’s up to the people to decide when the cost is too much. At Cypress High School, the only things guaranteed to students for free are education, basic-level programs, and food.
