EDITORIAL: Student Council should receive yearly budget

It’s a sunny Friday afternoon. Dozens of high school students are lining up in the quad, eagerly awaiting a sweet treat from the Student Council’s iconic monthly Friday ice cream tradition. Whether it may be a Klondike bar or an ice cream sandwich, the cherished tradition exemplified the spirit of the council in cultivating a vibrant and connected school community.

However, that tradition no longer exists because of financial constraints within the council.

The Student Council’s budget and bank account is not part of the school’s operating budget, said Country Day Controller Hannah Frank. Frank, who is responsible for overseeing the school’s accounting operations, said that’s historically been the case.

Instead, the account has been completely self-funded. All funds spent and earned come from fundraisers, dances, proms, other student-related activities and outside sources, according to incoming Co-Director of Finance sophomore Saheb Gulati.

Most of Student Council’s financial support comes from donations from the Parents Association, he said. Budgets are then carried over from year to year. Any money left over at the end of a fiscal year is rolled over to the following council, Gulati said.

This year, the account started with $4,900 in the beginning of the school year and; as of this April, the account is around $3,600, which will be used by the 2023-2024 government. This totals up to about $1,300 spent in Student Council activities as of August to April.

As a result of the nature of this financial model, incoming Student Council President Harper Livesey said that the council was especially cautious on spending this year, which restricted the council bringing life to the activities and initiatives they have planned.

“Sometimes, you never know what you get left with when you’re going into the presidency, and other times, and very often, the plans you want to do can’t get done because of that,” Livesey said.

Not only did that include the inability to bring back former Student Council President and alumnus Dylan Margolis’ ’22 beloved Friday ice cream tradition, costing upwards of $150 to $200 per month, other traditions like the midterms and finals goody bags ($200 to $300 per semester) to congratulate students amid their exams were also abandoned this year.

Despite both netting positive student feedback, they were sacrifices that had to be made even at the expense of school spirit because of its financial burden. Because the Student Council is also responsible for planning other events including school dances, financila concerns forc- es them to prioritize certain activities over others.

Especially with high school prom coming around the corner, the relevance of a Student Council budget becomes increasingly important, considering the ever-sohighly-priced prom tickets. As prom approaches, the cost of the tickets progressively rises, starting from $50 to $100. This week is already marked at $100.

This high-price is largely because of prom’s substantial expense. The average cost of prom for the past three years (excluding the years during COVID-19) was around $4,000 to $6,000 depending on the venue. Last year’s cost around $5,000 at the courtyard of the California Museum.

This year, however, prom is set to take place on a moving train to Woodland, totaling up to a cost of approximately $9,800. As of May 19, $5,100 worth of prom tickets have been sold according to Gulati.

To further elaborate, because the majority of Student Council’s budget goes directly to dances (prom, homecoming and winter formal), the only way to make up the money to break even is by either attracting a high number of attendees or to just simply increase the price of prom tickets, said former and incoming Spirit Coordinator Co-Chair junior Ishaan Sekhon.

Oftentimes the case is the latter as a result of the small size of the school.

As a response to those prices, Livesey said she feels a little bad sometimes when she has to tell a student the lowest price is $50 especially when students either can’t afford prom tickets, are hesitant to ask parents to pay or are reluctant to spend their savings.

With a high cost for prom tickets, it creates a cost barrier for students which then further disincentivizes them to attend prom, contributing to an endless cycle all over again. As a result, Student Council often struggles to break even by itself as the rest of the cost is covered based on the generosity of the PA.

The problem does not lie only in the financial aspects. Especially with prom, it serves as a way to nurture school spirit by bringing students together and creating lasting memories. However, when a significant portion of the student body feels discouraged from participating due to cost, the overall sense of school spirit and unity decreases altogether.

Ultimately, all these problems of prom’s cost barrier and loss of school spirit and past traditions cycle back to financial problems within the council. The solution is installing a yearly budget of $3,250 to the council from the school’s operating budget.

That number comes from calculations considering the

2022-2023 year’s expenses and projected yearly expenses based on the cost of bringing back traditions.

To break that down, the cost of Student Council operation in 2022-2023 total up to $1,300, the cost of bringing back Friday ice cream tradition held once a month between September to May totals up to $1,350 and the cost of bringing back goody bags once a semester would cost around $600.

All of these total $3,250 per year which will be used to ensure these traditions stay for good with the rest of the funds within the Student Council sectioned off specifically for dances. This way, neither the price of prom tickets nor traditions are sacrificed for the other.

Sekhon said this plan has a practical purpose when it comes to prom.

“For prom, If we were to have a consistent budget, the cost barrier would either be completely gone or minimized. We no longer have to overprice our tickets anymore.”

It’s not just prom.

By having that fixed yearly $3,250 budget, Livesey said it would help her goal to bring back Country Day Student Council’s beloved traditions to show appreciation for all high school students. With it, she said she would feel confident that any ideas she or the council has or will have next year will come to fruition with little to no financial setback.

Yes, it is true that a fund of $3,250 per year is a lot of money. Yes, it is true the money could be spent to fund clubs or other high school activities throughout the year.

However, the Student Council is interconnected with the student body and represents the voices of the students. The money would still benefit the students even if it is not directly siphoned into other avenues that need funding, said incoming Student Council Vice President Brooke Barker.

At the end of the day, the Student Council helps build school spirit and brings students together with its activities to fully enjoy the Country Day high school experience.

It’s what makes Country Day, “Country Day.”

Perhaps Livesey says it best.

“Things like those Fridays last year with just ice cream and fun activities make us really unique like no other school. And I would really like to continue that uniqueness,” Livesey said. “I love the school, and I love that we have the ability to do that. So just bringing that all together with the consistent funding just would make me confident and feel accomplished next year,” she said.