Clubs are small organizations started by students to build a stronger community. They demonstrate leadership in their founders and are formed around beliefs, values, and activities. 

Yet, many clubs need funding to work, and many complain that they are not getting the funding they need. Everyone seems curious about the possible disparity of funding, of where the ASB money goes, and why certain clubs don’t see any of it.

To track this down, Mr. Davis, our new Assistant Principal and Athletics Director was contacted. He redirected questions to Ms. Schmidt, Principal of WVHS. 

Ms. Schmidt explained that there are different accounts that our school’s money goes to. Entrance fees at sports games and tickets for theater productions go straight back to the district office. There’s the Booster Club, which is run by parents. They’ll only fund reusable material things: Ms. Schmidt gave examples of uniforms, musical instruments, microscopes, and class textbooks. The Booster club takes ideas from teachers for what to purchase.

The ASB, meanwhile, is a student body funding, which goes into different accounts – one for this sports team, one for that club, one for NHS, one for the class council, etc. Each club (including athletic clubs) has their own financial needs, and some have excellent fundraising strategies of their own. 

“If a club does need money [from the school], all they need to do is work with Ms. Litts and put in a request for starting their funds,” said Ms. Schmidt. There is a short application process. 

The majority of ASB money may go towards Link Crew, freshman orientation, or assembly props. Essentially, it goes toward improving our school community and spirit. “ASB funds are intended for students, and for student purposes, so we want to make sure that those are things that we put those money towards.”

Ms. Schmidt also explained that the allocation of funding is overseen by “the Leadership II class,” and that they “work with Ms. Litts, and Mr. Davis.”

Then, a student currently in Leadership II mentioned that while her class was in charge of a few fundraisers, they had not received any assignment so far on allocating funding for school activities and clubs, which seemed odd. 

Another meeting was scheduled, this time with Ms. Litts, Assistant Principal and Activities Director, as well as Leadership II teacher. She clarified a few points. 

“There are components [of the ASB funding] that the Leadership I and Leadership II classes allocate,” Ms. Litts said, “[but] Leadership II doesn’t have anything to do with clubs aside from [organizing] the club fair.”

On the note of getting funding for a club, if they’re starting out and “need some sort of seed money for something, a small amount… could be loaned from our ASB funds. That doesn’t go through Leadership” but rather through Ms. Litts and “Mr. Davis, our athletic director.” 

If a club needs a fee covered for a competition, additional financial support beyond what they get from fundraising, or something of the like, “potentially, yes, [they can be covered] because we want to make sure that opportunities aren’t limited for any students.” However, “it depends on what the situation is.”

At the end of the day, funding is very important, but also very difficult to get right. Between COVID-19 and the yearly change in administrative staff, there has been a lot of uncertainty. “There’s a difference,” said Ms. Schmidt. “There are plenty of clubs that don’t need any funding, so how do we make sure the ones that do [need funding] get what they need?”

Clubs do not automatically receive a fund. If your club needs funding (a starting seed, a loan, etc) come talk to Ms. Litts ([email protected]) or Mr. Davis ([email protected]) for more information on how WVHS can support you or your club in endeavors to celebrate our diverse and inclusive community.