Tuition increases in recent years have spurred some concerns about how the school spends its near 60 million dollar budget. No one likes to pay extra for nothing, so where, exactly, is our tuition going?
Some students, for example, have raised concerns about funding for the arts, such as band, theater, and film.
“We have to bring our own costumes, even though the whole school likes to show off the theater program, and we have to perform on a very small stage. We should get a bigger stage and more funding towards the theater program,” freshman Kaileah Pagtulingan said.
The theater program isn’t the only one that’s feeling underappreciated.
“The band room could use a lot of work. I think we could have better percussion instruments, and instruments for the beginning band,” Freshman Student Christian Ibara said.
While Mid-Pacific is known for being the “school of the arts”, sports like paddling, baseball, and track seem to get significantly more attention than things the band, orchestra, or theater program do. Esports is a great example of this.
“My experience in the Esports Club is not that it’s overfunded, but that the school is paying these high prices for Alienware PCs and not paying attention to the orchestra who doesn’t have enough room or lockers,” Ibara said.
While Mid-Pacific has a great esports team, the school’s recent decision to purchase ten $2,500 Alienware PCs is remarkable considering the absence of funding for costumes for the theater program, which has been around for decades. Funds like these would surely go a very long way towards nurturing students’ interests in creativity and musical expression.
Mid-Pacific Middle & High School Principal Stephen Ly gave some insight on how these financial decisions are made.
“Essentially the process is that we look to people who have expertise in each of those areas. So a big part of budget management is actually supporting, identifying, and listening to other leaders in your community. We have a team called the leadership team, which consists of department heads and program heads. Additionally, we have people who direct some of our bigger programs like MPSA and Athletics.” Ly said.
This committee works together to make decisions on budget. Its members request funding every year for supplies and other necessities to help run their program smoothly. However, funding decisions aren’t always fair. While Ly does everything in his power to make sure every department gets the resources they need, oftentimes the money is focused on areas that make the school shine bright to people inside and outside the community. Things like the esports and sports programs that win their games against other schools receive more attention and funding than the arts.
But ask yourself this: should students only get resources because they’re good at what they do? Mid-Pacific should not just take into consideration departments that make the school look good, but instead also pay attention to giving students resources they need to nurture and grow their passions and interests.
School officials work very hard and very diligently to make sure every department is represented and properly funded in this school, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make sure that the arts are truly appreciated here at Mid-Pacific.
