ASB Financial Process: How Money is Spent

When any club, event, student or class wants to spend its funds or raise funds, it must go through a meticulous approval process. ASB requires that every dollar, quarter, and penny be accounted for before approving any fundraising. When a club or class wants to spend that money, they need even more information.

Funds that are to be used must also have a goal directly relating to the standards outlined in the ASB guidelines. Chapter 14 of the ASB Handbook titled “Allowable and Questionable Expenses” clarifies what students and clubs are allowed to buy.

“The principal or school administrator and ASB advisers are responsible for ensuring that ASB funds are used to purchase goods and services that promote the students’ general welfare, morale, and educational experiences. In general, ASB expenses that meet these criteria are allowable if they are directly linked to the students’ benefit.” 

Examples of a prohibited purchase include donations to other organizations such as charity, except in special circumstances and donations to families or students in need. Because student body funds are meant to benefit students as a group and not individuals, they must be directly related to helping the school or a club.

In order to ensure these guidelines are strictly followed, the school’s financial technician, Jocelyn South, is the accounting tech responsible for this. She makes sure that every cent is accounted for at all times as the school can be audited at any time, and ASB is also subject to this process. In their weekly meetings, they go over everything from Hoopcoming to “Support our troops” T-shirts.

South is in charge of making sure every expense is clear to anybody who needs to look at it. If South wants to transfer any amount of money, she must fill out a transfer form, which she presents to the ASB class in their business meetings. The form has spots for four signatures, and at least two must be from school administrators such as a vice principal or principal.

This step is put in place as extra accountability for every student dollar that is spent.

“Not a thing that I get done goes through without at least having two, three, four, maybe even five, eyes take a look at it first,” South said.

Every Tuesday, ASB sets aside time to look over all of the requests from clubs, dances and more. Any cost brought up from these meetings not only goes through the critique of South but every ASB council member. Each member has the opportunity to interject at any time.

“I read off every bill that we need to pass and the amount and who it’s going to — who it’s from,” junior Brooklynn Deal, who serves as ASB treasurer, said.

The other members in ASB then ask questions and try their best to find ways to save money. This is especially evident in clubs, with the class even trying “help them find [things] for a cheaper price,” Deal said.

To make money, ASB has various fundraisers throughout the year. One, in particular, stands out.

“The biggest fundraiser that we do is our ASB stickers at the beginning of the year,” South said.

Each sticker is worth about two dollars. All the discounts secured for various popular places in and around Carlsbad give the sticker the most value to the students which as a result raises the most money for student events later in the year.

A common misconception that many students have is that ASB makes a significant profit off of the sale of spirit wear. The jackets, pants, shirts, and PJs are not a clever way to earn more money; they are made for the students of  Sage Creek to represent their school and show off their spirit. The profit is minimal and the quality is maximized, so students can get both comfortable and durable clothes at the best price ASB can offer.

All of these precautions and tedious checks are put in place to make sure that the school’s accounts are accurate and that any audits from the state and district are properly received. If there were any problems — whether it be on purpose or on accident — they could result in staff losing their jobs, so they need to be very meticulous and take all money they deal with very seriously.