Due to a new assembly bill aimed at creating equal opportunity for students from all economic backgrounds, Foothill’s Associated Student Body may have to scale back on some of their activities.
AB 1575, which was recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, reinforces previous legislation about school fees, with the intention of making all public education free. According to the bill, schools may no longer make students pay fees in order to participate in classes or extracurricular activities.
“The Free School Guarantee was put into the California constitution really in recognizing the fact that the foundation of our democracy is ensuring that all children have equal access to education that is necessary to go on and succeed and follow the American dream,” Brooks Allen, director of education advocacy at the Southern California branch of the ACLU, said. {sidebar id=60}
However, the new bill may have a measurable impact on Foothill’s ASB program, which controls the budget affected by the bill.
Many officers feel that programs such as Renaissance Fridays will have to either be fundraised for or simply cut to adapt to the slimming budget.
“It’s at the forefront of our finances, and were going to have to make changes to adapt to it,” Senior Class President Stephen Mariani said.
According to Mariani, fees have been an influential part of funding for many aspects of school, including ASB.
“We hope that our fundraising will be the same as the past because it was always optional. The biggest issue will be optional donations for Magic Mountain,” ASB advisor Darcy Duffy said.
ASB earns roughly $3,000 through fundraising. With AB 1575, more of that money will be needed to subsidize the Magic Mountain field trip because, in past years, the field trip had a mandatory fee.
Duffy is worried that kids who are in the middle, who could afford the donation but forgot the money at home or didn’t tell their parents, will create the biggest problem.
“You can’t, any longer, take the list of kids who are going and say ‘hey you haven’t paid,” Duffy said.
Funding for the annual ASB field trip to Camp Ramah has also come into question.
“There was a required payment for that field trip. It is a three-day field trip and we need to really strategize wisely on how we can fundraise effectively for ASB and for the school as well.” ASB President Andre Sehati said.
ASB has already started to brainstorm for more ideas on how to get Foothill students more involved in fundraising, including adding new incentives for the annual coupon book fundraiser that took place earlier this year.
