INEQUITY OF EXTRACURRICULAR FUNDING

BY RAFIKA KHAN Editor

With over 70 extracurriculars to choose from, there is little limit to what a student can do during their time at Kaneland. However, the treatment of these activities by the school is another story altogether. While some popular programs appear to be more heavily funded, others seem to need more support. Even if it is not on purpose, this lack of financial support has negatively impacted some clubs and activities at the school.

One thing that every Kaneland extracurricular activity needs is funding. Whether it is theater or volleyball, financial support is something all programs could use. But how does the school determine how much money is required for each activity?

“In my experience with the performing arts programs, the school hands the teachers their budgets at the beginning of the semester,” Kaneland Arts Initiative’s executive director Maria Dripps-Paulson said. “They’ll have a deadline to review the budgets and let the school know if they need more money and how they will use it. The school will also inform them if they will take specific money out of their budgets, which could lead to funding issues.”

While all Kaneland extracurriculars receive budgets, there are differences in how funds are allocated between them. However, the school sometimes does not provide enough financial assistance to clubs that need it.

“I’ve known funding to be a huge issue for lacrosse since joining the team,” junior Adam Leach said. “Lacrosse is one of the only pay-to-play sports at Kaneland, and funding for in-season necessities is quite low considering how expensive things are. We are a newer sport since we [were] founded in 2015, but I feel our lack of funds is still unfair compared to others.”

Along with a low budget, the lacrosse team also faces the issue of an unmaintained field and little promotion. This bothers Leach, who has played on the varsity lacrosse team since his first year at Kaneland.

“Our field is so unkempt that it has gotten to the point where lacrosse players from other schools get visually disappointed when they have to play against us here,” Leach said. “We also get less representation in the school than other sports, despite having a team every year and winning multiple playoff games. I think that should earn us more than what we currently have.”

The opportunities that clubs have to promote themselves at Kaneland are another essential need. With them, programs and clubs can get their name out in the community and gain support. Without them, the social advancement of such activities will often be hindered. Freshman Brooklyn Brown is a member of Kaneland’s dance team and feels that this is true.

“I think opportunities to get the word out about our program would be helpful for the dance team,” Brown said. “Performing during assemblies and basketball season, along with fundraising, can allow for more training time and publicity outside of competitions. This could let us continuously improve and make a name for ourselves.”

Still, Kaneland does attempt to offer any support it can to the activities they oversee. For example, the dance team has received more funding and chances to perform at assemblies in recent years. This has been beneficial to and appreciated by the team.

“We’ve gotten to the point we are at now because of the school,” Brown said. “I’ve heard that they’ve helped us more in the past year than ever, and we also receive support from parents, teachers and the student body. Though we want a little push to extend further, the school has not yet brought us down.”

Though Kaneland’s encouragement of some of its extracurriculars cannot be ignored, their imbalanced treatment is still apparent. This highlights the possibility of an unfair disparity and calls into need at least some further conversation.

“I understand that we are not the school’s top priority since we are not an overly large or strong team,” Brown said. “That doesn’t mean that we don’t have issues. We couldn’t have a choreographer to help with our routines this past season, leading our 15-member team to do it ourselves. Things don’t always go [as planned] and, though [we are still left with] enjoyable memories, more support from the school community could assist us and other [programs] in great ways.”

Whether it’s due to the prioritization of specific programs or not, Kaneland should improve how they help each extracurricular activity. If the school can find a way to offer more funding to a wider variety of programs, the programs will improve as a result. This would benefit the students, school and community as a whole as everyone would feel more appreciated.

Extracurricular activities are an essential part of a student’s social, physical and academic development throughout their years of schooling. In a study conducted by the United States Department of Education, it was shown “that students who participate in extracurricular activities are three times more likely to have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.”