Rose basketball highlights
Issue 1
September 27th, 2019
As the first semester of the school year starts, a recent incline in the price of club dues has raised concern amongst Rose students. Students in multiple clubs may face adversity with the costly news.
This year, many clubs, such as Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), Student Government Association and Key Club, have increased their club dues.
Clubs such as HOSA and FBLA operate at an international level, therefore, the majority of the dues go to the higher-level organization rather than solely to the local club.
“They were $25 last year, and we had to go up to $30 this year, and that's a national level; we didn’t make that decision here at Rose,” HOSA advisor Angie Byrne said. “It’s coming from the
Graphic by Misbah Barberio
top down; it's not our local decision.”
The increase in club dues wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision, it was a thought out process.
According to Key Club International, Which is an educational company, "In Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., delegates voted to increase international dues from US$7 to US$10 beginning in 2024-25."
Internationally, the cause for skyrocketing prices are due to inflation. Inflation is a challenge that affects the impact on school extracurricular activities. According to Edustaff, Which is an educational staffing company, “As schools tackle the challenges of rising inflation, they have no choice but to explore strategies that lessen its impact. Cost cutting and sourcing additional funding will be vital, offering the support schools need for their programs.”
Raising dues was important when it came to continuing clubs at Rose, as inflation was a determining factor for the club’s success.
“In order to be able to afford to run our club, it was vital we raised dues,” Key Club advisor Molly Chandler said.
Although this is a recent accommodation schoolwide, club leaders are adjusting to the sudden change.
“School Cash Online and the fees associated with its use was the biggest reason, and our national dues also went up,” FBLA advisor Kurt Garner said. “Other reasons are just the cost of everything going up, T-shirt costs went up, we include a t-shirt with our membership dues, [and] a small portion is used for running our chapter too like providing materials for meetings and snacks at the socials, [and] the cost of food has risen drastically. “
Having more money for resources is useful, but the downside of inflation affects not just the club but students individually.
Being a part of multiple clubs is a common trait that many students share at Rose. While signing up for many clubs, the amount spent on dues grows greater. The costly increase is not beneficial for struggling students.
"It's a lot, especially for people who aren't able to get the money as easily as others,” Junior Raelyn Phillips said. “It starts to get expensive when you get involved in more than one club; $30 per club is a lot of money to pull out of your pocket just for club dues.”
Even with the disadvantage of expensive club dues not being easy to manage for struggling students, there are ways to still be able to participate in these clubs by reaching out to the leaders of the club you want to be a part of.
“We always let students know that if they have financial hardships that they can see us individually and we’ll see what we can do to help them,” Byrne said.
