The fundraising policy has evolved in the four years that Dr. Troy Unzicker has been at Alliance Public Schools as the Superintendent. This year, Dr. Unzicker also took over the athletic director position due to the reduction in force (RIF) in the district.

Over the past few years, it became clear to Dr. Unzicker that the athletic teams and even some of the other extra curriculum activities were asking for money from the community and the Booster club for the things that are needed to play the sport.

Dr. Unzicker didn’t find it appropriate that the sports teams were fundraising for things that they need to play their sport and he made sure that the school would start paying for those items. The school now pays for things such as uniforms, nets, and balls. Each activity has their own schedule for when they may receive new uniforms. For example, sports like football and volleyball may need new uniforms every five years because of all the wear and tear that they go through each season versus uniforms for something like marching band which that might have to wait longer because their uniforms can typically last longer.

Fundraising for warmups, travel gear, or money for the sports account is allowed, but each sport only gets to have one fundraiser a year. Most activities sell things such as shirts that represent their sport, some sell doughnuts, or other food items. All the money is for the students wants, not needs.

The Booster Club is a group of parents that fundraise for the athletics at AHS. One set of parents from each class is nominated every new school year to be in charge of organizing. The Booster Club has separate fundraisers where they sell shirts and athletic calendars to make money for donations for the students. One example is the Booster club just recently put in a donation to the Save the Track Fund. The Booster Club also provides the athletes with things such as a shot counter for the basketball teams and other equipment that can help our athletes get better, but again, are not things that the students need.

Fundraising for class accounts is also included in the fundraising policy. On Saturday, October 22, a couple of the Junior class parents put together a Halloween dance for high school students. The dance was held at the city park, shelter house starting at 8 pm and ending at midnight. Students were encouraged to dress up in their costumes and had to pay a fee of five dollars to get into the dance. All the proceeds were intended to for the 2017 prom fund, when questions about the fundraising policy started to whisper through the halls.

For clarification, each class can have two fundraisers a year to go towards their account. The money goes to decorations for homecoming, prom, senior breakfast, and other items towards their class. But the fundraising for each class can not be advertised by the school. The questions were about why the juniors couldn’t fundraise and they can. The school just can’t advertise for one fundraiser that is not through the school. Open donations are always welcome.