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Student Satisfaction? One of many cracked chairs in the school remain available for student use. Complaints regarding the damaged chairs have begun to make their way into the daily conversations among students. Photo by Bella Smith
Spartans question damaged objects and lack of class supplies By Amber Davis Staff Reporter
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n one classroom, students stare at the large cracks in their chairs that run from one corner to the center of them. In another classroom, an insufficient supply of
materials for their classes require teachers to improvise on their previous class plans. The financial aspect of running a school is not considered quite as often by students when questioning the conditions or inventory in common areas of the school.
Art teacher Ms. Michelle McCune’s class funding directly depends on the school budget. “The department supplies all of the materials for the students,” Ms. McCune said. “If we spend any funds on anything other than consumables, we always meet together as a department to decide how to spend the funds.” Assistant Principal Andy Downs describes how the school receives a budget each year to fund the different activities and classes that FHC has to offer. “At the district level, sometimes you’ll have different budgets,” Dr. Downs said. “The budget is really complex and [...] there are so many layers of it.” Some clubs do not have enough of a supply to go around for each student. While students question the lack of supplies and why more can’t just be bought, Activities Director Mr. Scott Harris refutes this idea with the inner workings of the school’s money, including requests for use of the money. “The [budget] is based on prior expenditures as well as from requests from coaches, directors & sponsors,” Mr. Harris said. “We are very fortunate to be able to sit down with the district finance people to work through our budget requests.