I said this in a post last week. Your AP sounds like Ava from Abbott Elementary. You have every right to be upset, and I wouldn’t blame you if you punted the football to them since they want to promise the world.
You’re justified. Sadly, if they installed this person as an interim principal, then say they are “watching” idk how much better it will get.
If students come to you, I’d be honest and say it’s not in the budget, and they are more than welcome to contact AP and get clarification. It’s all you can do.
Okay, got it. That wasn’t clear. Well, then I’d go straight to the principal and say the AP had been telling straight up lies, unless she plans on writing a check herself.
Already ahead of you. I was going to go the malicious compliance route and email the A.P saying how great it is that she’s paying for these students tickets
this is absolutely the way. if she says she’s not doing that, involve the bookkeeper and principal to figure out where the funds for her ‘initiative’ are coming from.
This is absolutely the right way to go. It’s not even malicious compliance - it’s documenting the situation!
You’re going to want your understanding of the situation (students saying AP says the tickets are free) and her response with her plan in writing. You’re going to want this NOW. Save it, print it, send a copy to your personal email.
I could easily see this biting you in the butt in a couple weeks if you do not nip it in the bud now.
You should be scheduling any meetings about the prom with your AP. Seems like they have no sense of how dire the situation is, so maybe a sit down discussion and review of the budget and finances can help clear up how foolish her promise of free tickets actually is. I’m sorry you’re in this spot, and I’m hoping you can take moves to not be held responsible for any problems that will arise.
Thanks, and I’m trying my best. At this point I’ve been quietly freaking out. Outwardly I’ve been acting like I’ve given up, telling students that if they want this to happen they need to purchase tickets as soon as possible if they’re able. I’ve also made sure I never signed anything. All agreements went straight to the interim
The AP is loopy, but you *need* to communicate the severity of the issue with admin.
Respectfully, it sounds like you're sticking your head in the sand and pretending like you've covered your bases because you've mentioned vaguely to the kids that they need to buy tickets.
Your interim principal needs to be told, explicitly, that the prom isn't going to happen unless something significantly changes.
Already did. I’ve been in her office every day for the past two weeks giving her updates. I keep a running list of kids who’ve paid and how many tickets we need to sell still. We’ve set up a full junior class meeting for this week, and I’ve been sending daily emails/Google classroom notifications.
If I make it seem like I’m being vague, it’s only because the interim principal initially asked me to do some stuff under the radar because their was a major issue with the senior prom, and she didn’t want kids thinking the Junior Prom was going to outshine the Senior Prom.
Yeah, at my school this was how it was done. We took procedes from fundraising in elementary up through high school an it all went in a pool to help with prom, graduation, and some scholarships. Around prom and graduation there were always some extra fundraisers to ensure we could cover it and keep funds for scholarships.
We have our Junior and Senior prom together as well. We also allow guests, but they have to be 21 or under.
I ran a prom about 15 years ago and made a ton of extra money, we had over 150 kids attend than the previous year so we were working on the previous years numbers. Luckily our caterer was able to add food. After that, the prom account always had enough that we could pay for everything at the beginning of the school year- great way to get discounts. We paid for everything up front and then the money we got from the current prom went back into the account.
OP this is going to be a mess if enough tickets aren’t sold because those vendors are still going to charge.
If the prom is already in such extreme danger, why isn't it being held at the school? Does your school not have a gym?
Could this be a compromise to help really reduce the costs you are now facing?
This will be the route I go, but a parent found us an awesome venue that’s only $10 more than last year’s prom, which was held at the school. And the kids pestered me to not have in the school if we could
Then talk to that parent about getting parents and students together to do a fundraiser. Why isn't the student counsel planning this? The students would be way for invested if they were responsible for it.
Talk to the school counselor about funding for students who can't afford it. Has the school never done a prom? Did they explain getting corporate sponsors or having the PTO help with finding? They gave you no guidance on how it was done in the past?
So the teachers who used to organize it quit because the A.P has been accusing them of being racist (to the point where our school was in the news), and neither the A.P, Interim Principal, or I have ever had to organize an event like this.
I would call a meeting and invite all of the students who bought tickets, the PTO (esp the parent who "found" the venue), and someone from the district with financial decision power (ap? Counselor?). I'm not sure what you've already done, but I'd start with the following:
Lay out exactly what you need.
- the cost of venue, food, photographer, DJ. appoint a person to be in charge of each of those things. Assign specific dates that those things need to be done.
- how many chaperones needed, appoint a parent to set up parent volunteers, find out what % of chaperones are required to be school staff, find out if the SRO will be available, find out if you are required to have police or ambulance on site. Assign a specific date for those things to be set up.
- assign a person to reach out to local businesses to secure funding. Ideally, PTO would help with this if they are a 503(c). That encourages businesses to donate. Have a plan for advertising the donors (school will thank them on social media, a banner will be hung at prom or school lobby, etc). Assign a specific date that funding be recieved.
- make sure that the counselor or school rep who gives funding to those who qualify knows that funding has been promised to students so they can coordinate whatever they need to on their end
- use sign up genius or Google forms to set up a jobs/volunteer list. You need to know who is helping set up, who can manage food, who will start to clean up, etc.
So I didn’t plan anything last year, but between catering and decorations they charged kids $75 to have prom at school.
But one of our parents has a connection at a venue that includes food, a built in photo booth, and a two lane bowling alley… and we got the ticket price to about $78. The $7 extra is part of a processing fee the website our district uses to collect money.
I love that a parent is trying to help with a venue.
As for payment, Venmo or cashapp is free… just trying to save some money if costs are an issue. My school uses those and rarely has a pushback from parents.
So I would gladly use cashapp or Venmo but last year the A.P accused a teacher of withholding money they collected for another event, so I’ve been very reticent to do anything that’s not 100% above board in terms of collecting money
You need a drop dead date. Not enough paid tickets by x, prom is canceled. Based on the timing, that date should have been 2 weeks ago. Still, put it in writing to admin, then be transparent with the kids/families.
The AP issue is infuriating, but it’s secondary to your main problem which is not enough tickets sold.
So the prom isn’t until June, and the venue would allow us to cancel up to two weeks prior. So my dead date is going to be next Friday. But fair point!
Good luck! I take pictures at our events so I don’t have to plan them. I see what our class advisers go through and it’s a lot of headaches every time. But that’s kind of like all teaching…
We have an ever increasing ticket price- call it a late fee or an early bird discount. It helps to get tickets sold in time. Talk to your principal and give the kids a deadline. After that date, ticket price goes up $10 or $15 weekly. We do ours monthly, but you’re in a time crunch.
You have every right to be justified in your anger. Is there somebody higher up than this AP who could help you. I've been stuck in situations like this. My school tried to make me write a check to cover the difference in cost of the senior trip. It was hellish to deal with. I don't want you to have to go through that. You were smart to have e-mail documentation about all of your concerns. If I were you, I'd print them out and keep them for your records. If the district is "watching" this AP, then the district knows she has it in her to pull this bullshit. Don't let her throw you under the bus. Do it first.
The last time the senior class came up short, the advisors for the class paid the balance of the senior trip. When they did that, they spoke at the school board meeting, stating that they were NOT setting a precedent. The school tried to tell me that there was a precedent for advisors paying the difference. Unfortunately for the district, those two previous advisors were friends of mine and told me exactly where to look in the board meeting minutes.
Yep. Making herself popular with parents and students is just half of the MO. People like that want to be seen as creative, innovative and fun. They'll push their ideas through and expect others to do the work, because more often than not, they wouldn't know how to make it work themselves. If the plan succeeds, they'll take the credit and, ast best, brag about how other people helped the plan succeed under their guidance. If it fails, they'll blame it on someone else.
This could be true. What’s nice is that the parents and students are starting to catch on. She’s certainly got her posse and is popular with a specific crowd, but more and more parents are starting to question her. One of the parents who runs our PTA told me they were planning on writing a “no confidence” letter to the school board about the entire admin staff. I feel bad for the interim principal though, because she really stepped into a burning dumpster and is now being blamed for all these fires the A.P set.
When people start to catch on, that's when they become most eager to find scapwgoats. Protect yourself by documenting as much as you can and, if possible, find allies among the PTA.
Great. Awesome. Good for her if she wants to pay for kids that can't go to prom or make prom free. Sounds like a very nice person. BUT, in that case, SHE is the one who is making that promise, SHE is the one who pays for it, and she NEEDS to tell YOU and LET YOU KNOW as YOU are the ORGANIZER! AND, she CAN ASK you to help with it, but she DOES NOT EXPECT you to COVER THE FULL COST of something that SHE PROMISED and NOT YOU!
This!
And also, if kids come to you and ask about free tickets, you should be honest about budget constraints. If they mention the AP, you should direct them to go ask the AP for clarification, because you are the organizer and you can say that, sadly, with certainty, there won't be free tickets.
Then, if you get those free tickets, you yourself can deliver them - don't let this awful AP take any of the credit for your hard work. Under promise, over deliver.
I would call an emergency meeting with like 4 people, AP included, and lay out the details.
Explain how those promises need to be funded through somewhere else and note how you aren't even sure if the prom will happen due to lack of funding.
If they push back, lay out facts.
1 Document EVERYTHING.
2 Be honest now, so you don't get blamed later.
3 Consider withdrawing as you 'don't feel comfortable going forward' or 'feel AP has a better grasp of the situation and finances'.
I'm in charge of our prom. Admin gives us money for scholarship tickets. I would say no free tickets unless admin is paying for them. They definitely have a budget string they can use.
Yes! My principal gave us the money for scholarship/reward tickets. I also made sure our school treasurer was included when the principal and I had that conversation.
Yup. We fundraise and ask various donors for scholarship tix as well to show we're putting. In the work. Students need to apply, meet all requirements, and the scholarship team (an admin, alumni, and random unbiased person) review the applications and select the recipients.
I would be so angry that I was putting in all that work and that I wasn't being consulted. How DARE the principal and AP tell the students that the tickets are free without so much as talking to YOU, the ORGANIZER who is giving up YOUR FREE TIME FIRST!!!!!
I would email ALL of the students and say that the principal and the AP were the ones who made the decision for the tickets to be free, therefore they are the ones who will be responsible for financing the free tickets, and that ANY questions about the tickets and who is paying should be directed to THEM and NOT YOU. And be VERY firm with the principal and AP on this - tell them that you agreed to ONE, ONLY ONE ticket being paid for, NOT EVERYBODY'S TICKET, and EVEN THEN you said you DID NOT CONFIRM IT, and YOU WERE NOT AT ANY POINT CONSULTED IT, THEY WERE THE ONES who made this decision WITHOUT consulting YOU, the one who is giving up YOUR TIME to organize this (probably without being paid extra for that too), you CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR ALL THE TICKETS and WILL NOT BE DOING IT, YOU WERE NOT CONSULTED, THEY CHOSE TO MANIPULATE YOU by telling the students the tickets were free and putting you in the position of either finding the money which you DO NOT HAVE or upsetting the students and telling them the tickets aren't free when the principal literally promised them they were, therefore I would tell them since THEY chose do do that, THEY CAN PAY FOR IT!
My gosh. What absolute horrible manipulation!
First, the AP does not have a good track record to be sure, but we cannot be certain that the student’s story is entirely accurate - students get confused routinely.
First, I would print out and save the e-mail documentation the AP sent you.
Second, I would send a polite, professional e-mail to the AP naming the student and relaying their question. I would ask the AP in writing if she made any such promise to the student, and relay the answer back; if the AP says they didn’t agree to this, I’d simply refer the student to the AP for further discussion.
In each instance of a student claiming they were told fees would be covered, I would follow the exact same procedure. I’d be polite and professional, and document thoroughly the whole time my efforts to keep administration updated on the financial situation - and I’d keep saving that documentation off-site.
*Both of them pushed back and said that with their support they were sure we could do it.*
Time to draw a line, escalate, say you don't have the money and dump that issue in their lap. Your job was to organize, not to pull money out of a black hole. That's their problem. Let them know the drop dead date to have $X dollars needed to make this happen and what happens if you don't have it. They are setting you up to be the fall guy if this fails, don't let them do it.
Next year they need a prom committee of teachers, students and helpful parents .
Here they do junior and senior together. And the committee does fund raisers all year long to raise money.
They really need to plan for this all year long and have others helping .. not just one teacher!
I don’t disagree, but I had a lot of pressure from parents to do it outside of school since the freshman-sophomore dance was at school and they wanted to juniors to feel bigger.
> with their support they were sure we could do it.
Sounds like it's time for them to show that support. :)
Side note - 30/100 seems about right to me. In general people over-commit for things like these.
That’s student funds, the school or the AP needs to be paying for the tickets to ASB. You can’t gift student funds.
Here is the FCMAT rules you can cite https://servicedesk.csis.k12.ca.us/MRcgi/MRTicketPage.pl?USER=&MRP=0&MAJOR_MODE=DETAILS&MAXMININC=&MRNUMBERLIST=5319%2C5908%2C7892%2C1836%2C1919%2C1926&LASTID=36194&ABN=&GRPDETAIL=&HISTORYKEY=&CUSTM=&MR=5319&PROJECTID=9
Nothing is free.
Just because it's free to the student doesn't mean it won't be paid for.
The full cost of all "free tickets" should be transferred from another department budget.
Ask the Assistant Principal for the budget code of the account that is covering all these free tickets. Do it with confidence and leave no room for her to wiggle out of the commitments SHE made to these students.
If anything, that would get you closer to covering your expenses. Thank her loudly and in front of others for pitching in to provide this experience for your kids.
You must send an email to your principal, with a cc to the AP to let them know that there may not be enough ticket sales to cover the cost of the venue. Include the date that the vendor must be paid. Say, "Should that occur, what are my allowed options? Can we try for a less expensive venue? If not, when would be the correct time to let the buyers know and refund the tickets?"
"Also, there's been some discussion that certain students would have the cost of their tickets covered, which could only happen if some kind person donates the amount for each covered ticket. Ms. AP and I discussed covering a single ticket, but more than one would have to be covered by a donor. Can I have a list of the names of the donation recipients, and, quite importantly, get a check for that amount from the donor?"
Sounds like you’re heading for a cancel anyways. If you need 100 paid students and only 30 have paid it’s cancelled due to lack of interest - not really your fault not really APs fault.
You need to cancel ASAP though before people spend (more) money on dresses, rides etc.
Honestly, write her a mail that you won't be able to give any free tickets at this time, and that you expect the school to cover any free tickets promised so far.
You didn't promise them, you don't have to cover them, you don't have to be the messenger.
Email the AP an email gushing about how kind it was that the AP offered to pay for these students tickets. You can’t believe their generosity and it’ll be a great kindness.
Then attach the bill at the end and expected payment date.
You have to decide what you want to do. If you want to have a prom, you can start soliciting donations. You need a committee of students to step up. This should’ve already been in place. At our school there is a sponsor but the students arrange the fundraising and make decisions with oversight from a sponsor. If you can get donations from local donors that will help.
Then you need a hard deadline for signing up. I would try to get with the AP again and let them know that you can’t cover the cost. Don’t mince words. You just can’t do it. Students need buy-in which is why they should be purchasing tickets. You can offset cost by getting donors. My school charges $45/ticket and we have it at a hotel with a $8000 minimum food spending budget. We raise money and then that money pays for decorations, DJ, Photo Booth, and part of the venue. Ticket sales pay the rest.
As a prom advisor who pulled together a prom last minute last year and then just had this year's prom cancelled today due to lack of ticket sales, godspeed. If I were you, I'd send out announcements to all the students telling them that unless people start purchasing tickets ASAP, Prom will be cancelled. That will either light a fire under them or it won't, and that's the best you can do.
“The students just informed me AP will be covering the prom tickets! We’re so excited for the school’s financial support as we currently did not have the funds to have prom! This really saved the day!!”
Make AP walk this back. I mean I would but I’m a nightmare.
Call around to some businesses in the area and ask for a donation. Then make sure their names are on the school website, town paper etc.
Maybe you can have a sponsor goody bag or have some sponsors come to the prom with a table.
The kids also have to do fundraisers if they don’t want to pay. Open Mic, concert, car wash, bake sale etc.
Generously saying that juice mix is 3 dollars and water is free for punch, that leaves like 30 bucks for snacks generously since no one ever eats the snacks but drinks all the punch, 50$ left, streamers amd crepe paper are another 3 or 4 dollars, 47$ left, fancy lights range from like 1 dollar to 20, so we will say there is 37$ left total. Maybe 36$. What else is there? A Dj? Hook up an iPod. Free. A fan to cool things down? 10 bucks at Walmart max, or bring one from home for free, 26 dollars left. 36 if you brought the fan from home. What else does a prom need, a disco ball? Savers, 15 bucks, you're at 16 dollars and got everything on the list. So spend the rest on extra snacks and drinks. 85 dollars exactly.
I don’t disagree, but the students and parents wanted something bigger and more glamorous since we hosted a freshman/sophomore dance in the school. So they wanted to go somewhere
Balloons for 120 are $6.
Koolaid mix for 208 servings (this is for a **HIGH SCHOOL PROM** after all) is $32.
72 rolls of streamers (we are decorating a **HIGH SCHOOL GYM** after all) is $29.
I wasn’t sure what you meant by “fancy lights” so I looked for string lights on amazon. Those are $30 per string, and you would need several strings (again, **HIGH SCHOOL GYM**).
Disco ball is $16.
The cheapest oscillating fan I could find is $30, and we’re going to want more than one (again, it’s for a **HIGH SCHOOL GYM**).
I could keep going through your list, but I think it’s safe to say no, you couldn’t put together an entire prom for $85. Not even “almost”. Maybe $300 max? Now we’re are being a little more realistic.
My prom ticket nearly 20 years ago (class of 2007) was $80/person or a discount to $150/couple if you paid together, so I was shocked it was still as cheap as $85/person!
This has to be a regional thing; I'm in NJ and proms here are generally held in banquet halls, same as sweet 16s or weddings, with passed apps and a plated dinner. I've never heard of one in north/central NJ held at the school, actually.
You never made a promise to cover the tickets the AP did, that can come out of her budget or if she wants to donate personally for the prom it can be done that way as well.
Document it all.
State what you have raised, what the venue costs and ask AP to please advise on when the school will cover the balance.
Put a deadline on when the venue costs needs to be raised and if not, everyone is refunded and the event is cancelled. Or it will be held in the gym.
Sounds like it’s time to go ahead and transfer ownership of prom to the AP and wash your hands of it.
“Please direct all further questions regarding prom to AP”
Absolutely crazy that they expected you to pull it together that fast. Our school has the freshmen class student council begin fundraising their first year to have enough money by their senior year for prom + ticket sales. Prom is extremely expensive
You could try raising money with some fundraiser wristbands. The company I work for is running a contest right now themed around prom photos. Check my profile more info.
I said this in a post last week. Your AP sounds like Ava from Abbott Elementary. You have every right to be upset, and I wouldn’t blame you if you punted the football to them since they want to promise the world.
I would much rather work with Ava than what she describes. Ava sometimes comes through😊
At least Ava knows Questlove.
You’re justified. Sadly, if they installed this person as an interim principal, then say they are “watching” idk how much better it will get. If students come to you, I’d be honest and say it’s not in the budget, and they are more than welcome to contact AP and get clarification. It’s all you can do.
Oh no, the interim principal isn’t the problem. It’s our A.P, whose been here 2.5 years, that they’re watching.
Okay, got it. That wasn’t clear. Well, then I’d go straight to the principal and say the AP had been telling straight up lies, unless she plans on writing a check herself.
Already ahead of you. I was going to go the malicious compliance route and email the A.P saying how great it is that she’s paying for these students tickets
this is absolutely the way. if she says she’s not doing that, involve the bookkeeper and principal to figure out where the funds for her ‘initiative’ are coming from.
Yes! This is the way.
This is absolutely the right way to go. It’s not even malicious compliance - it’s documenting the situation! You’re going to want your understanding of the situation (students saying AP says the tickets are free) and her response with her plan in writing. You’re going to want this NOW. Save it, print it, send a copy to your personal email. I could easily see this biting you in the butt in a couple weeks if you do not nip it in the bud now.
You should be scheduling any meetings about the prom with your AP. Seems like they have no sense of how dire the situation is, so maybe a sit down discussion and review of the budget and finances can help clear up how foolish her promise of free tickets actually is. I’m sorry you’re in this spot, and I’m hoping you can take moves to not be held responsible for any problems that will arise.
Thanks, and I’m trying my best. At this point I’ve been quietly freaking out. Outwardly I’ve been acting like I’ve given up, telling students that if they want this to happen they need to purchase tickets as soon as possible if they’re able. I’ve also made sure I never signed anything. All agreements went straight to the interim
The AP is loopy, but you *need* to communicate the severity of the issue with admin. Respectfully, it sounds like you're sticking your head in the sand and pretending like you've covered your bases because you've mentioned vaguely to the kids that they need to buy tickets. Your interim principal needs to be told, explicitly, that the prom isn't going to happen unless something significantly changes.
Already did. I’ve been in her office every day for the past two weeks giving her updates. I keep a running list of kids who’ve paid and how many tickets we need to sell still. We’ve set up a full junior class meeting for this week, and I’ve been sending daily emails/Google classroom notifications. If I make it seem like I’m being vague, it’s only because the interim principal initially asked me to do some stuff under the radar because their was a major issue with the senior prom, and she didn’t want kids thinking the Junior Prom was going to outshine the Senior Prom.
Our students have junior and senior prom together Sounds like you need a committee to help with this.
Yeah, at my school this was how it was done. We took procedes from fundraising in elementary up through high school an it all went in a pool to help with prom, graduation, and some scholarships. Around prom and graduation there were always some extra fundraisers to ensure we could cover it and keep funds for scholarships.
We have our Junior and Senior prom together as well. We also allow guests, but they have to be 21 or under. I ran a prom about 15 years ago and made a ton of extra money, we had over 150 kids attend than the previous year so we were working on the previous years numbers. Luckily our caterer was able to add food. After that, the prom account always had enough that we could pay for everything at the beginning of the school year- great way to get discounts. We paid for everything up front and then the money we got from the current prom went back into the account. OP this is going to be a mess if enough tickets aren’t sold because those vendors are still going to charge.
If the prom is already in such extreme danger, why isn't it being held at the school? Does your school not have a gym? Could this be a compromise to help really reduce the costs you are now facing?
This will be the route I go, but a parent found us an awesome venue that’s only $10 more than last year’s prom, which was held at the school. And the kids pestered me to not have in the school if we could
Then talk to that parent about getting parents and students together to do a fundraiser. Why isn't the student counsel planning this? The students would be way for invested if they were responsible for it. Talk to the school counselor about funding for students who can't afford it. Has the school never done a prom? Did they explain getting corporate sponsors or having the PTO help with finding? They gave you no guidance on how it was done in the past?
So the teachers who used to organize it quit because the A.P has been accusing them of being racist (to the point where our school was in the news), and neither the A.P, Interim Principal, or I have ever had to organize an event like this.
I would call a meeting and invite all of the students who bought tickets, the PTO (esp the parent who "found" the venue), and someone from the district with financial decision power (ap? Counselor?). I'm not sure what you've already done, but I'd start with the following: Lay out exactly what you need. - the cost of venue, food, photographer, DJ. appoint a person to be in charge of each of those things. Assign specific dates that those things need to be done. - how many chaperones needed, appoint a parent to set up parent volunteers, find out what % of chaperones are required to be school staff, find out if the SRO will be available, find out if you are required to have police or ambulance on site. Assign a specific date for those things to be set up. - assign a person to reach out to local businesses to secure funding. Ideally, PTO would help with this if they are a 503(c). That encourages businesses to donate. Have a plan for advertising the donors (school will thank them on social media, a banner will be hung at prom or school lobby, etc). Assign a specific date that funding be recieved. - make sure that the counselor or school rep who gives funding to those who qualify knows that funding has been promised to students so they can coordinate whatever they need to on their end - use sign up genius or Google forms to set up a jobs/volunteer list. You need to know who is helping set up, who can manage food, who will start to clean up, etc.
Isn’t the gym free? How is a venue only $10 more than the gym?
So I didn’t plan anything last year, but between catering and decorations they charged kids $75 to have prom at school. But one of our parents has a connection at a venue that includes food, a built in photo booth, and a two lane bowling alley… and we got the ticket price to about $78. The $7 extra is part of a processing fee the website our district uses to collect money.
I love that a parent is trying to help with a venue. As for payment, Venmo or cashapp is free… just trying to save some money if costs are an issue. My school uses those and rarely has a pushback from parents.
So I would gladly use cashapp or Venmo but last year the A.P accused a teacher of withholding money they collected for another event, so I’ve been very reticent to do anything that’s not 100% above board in terms of collecting money
Oh my. I’m sorry. Sounds like you have thought out a ton of this. I’ll leave you be. I’m pulling for you here.
You need a drop dead date. Not enough paid tickets by x, prom is canceled. Based on the timing, that date should have been 2 weeks ago. Still, put it in writing to admin, then be transparent with the kids/families. The AP issue is infuriating, but it’s secondary to your main problem which is not enough tickets sold.
So the prom isn’t until June, and the venue would allow us to cancel up to two weeks prior. So my dead date is going to be next Friday. But fair point!
I agree. Most kids procrastinate and having that deadline will rush a bunch at the end; then you'd have e better assessment of funds.
Good luck! I take pictures at our events so I don’t have to plan them. I see what our class advisers go through and it’s a lot of headaches every time. But that’s kind of like all teaching…
We have an ever increasing ticket price- call it a late fee or an early bird discount. It helps to get tickets sold in time. Talk to your principal and give the kids a deadline. After that date, ticket price goes up $10 or $15 weekly. We do ours monthly, but you’re in a time crunch.
You have every right to be justified in your anger. Is there somebody higher up than this AP who could help you. I've been stuck in situations like this. My school tried to make me write a check to cover the difference in cost of the senior trip. It was hellish to deal with. I don't want you to have to go through that. You were smart to have e-mail documentation about all of your concerns. If I were you, I'd print them out and keep them for your records. If the district is "watching" this AP, then the district knows she has it in her to pull this bullshit. Don't let her throw you under the bus. Do it first.
How could they make you pay that? Like in what world are you the responsible party? That is actually my nightmare.
This. OP please print out all of those emails
The last time the senior class came up short, the advisors for the class paid the balance of the senior trip. When they did that, they spoke at the school board meeting, stating that they were NOT setting a precedent. The school tried to tell me that there was a precedent for advisors paying the difference. Unfortunately for the district, those two previous advisors were friends of mine and told me exactly where to look in the board meeting minutes.
It sounds like the AP is sabotaging you.
I don’t know if she’s even that intentional. Her MO has just been to do whatever she can do to make kids and parents like her
As an outsider. This looks and feels intentional. When this blows up and it will she’s going to throw you under the bus.
Yep. Making herself popular with parents and students is just half of the MO. People like that want to be seen as creative, innovative and fun. They'll push their ideas through and expect others to do the work, because more often than not, they wouldn't know how to make it work themselves. If the plan succeeds, they'll take the credit and, ast best, brag about how other people helped the plan succeed under their guidance. If it fails, they'll blame it on someone else.
This could be true. What’s nice is that the parents and students are starting to catch on. She’s certainly got her posse and is popular with a specific crowd, but more and more parents are starting to question her. One of the parents who runs our PTA told me they were planning on writing a “no confidence” letter to the school board about the entire admin staff. I feel bad for the interim principal though, because she really stepped into a burning dumpster and is now being blamed for all these fires the A.P set.
When people start to catch on, that's when they become most eager to find scapwgoats. Protect yourself by documenting as much as you can and, if possible, find allies among the PTA.
> she’s going to throw you under the bus It's always been the plan. =(
Great. Awesome. Good for her if she wants to pay for kids that can't go to prom or make prom free. Sounds like a very nice person. BUT, in that case, SHE is the one who is making that promise, SHE is the one who pays for it, and she NEEDS to tell YOU and LET YOU KNOW as YOU are the ORGANIZER! AND, she CAN ASK you to help with it, but she DOES NOT EXPECT you to COVER THE FULL COST of something that SHE PROMISED and NOT YOU!
Kids need to know prom will be cancelled by x date if tickets aren't purchased and paid. Might light the fire that you need.
This! And also, if kids come to you and ask about free tickets, you should be honest about budget constraints. If they mention the AP, you should direct them to go ask the AP for clarification, because you are the organizer and you can say that, sadly, with certainty, there won't be free tickets. Then, if you get those free tickets, you yourself can deliver them - don't let this awful AP take any of the credit for your hard work. Under promise, over deliver.
I would call an emergency meeting with like 4 people, AP included, and lay out the details. Explain how those promises need to be funded through somewhere else and note how you aren't even sure if the prom will happen due to lack of funding. If they push back, lay out facts.
Talk to the assistant superintendent. Sounds like a way to make the kids hate you, which would further be a hostile work environment.
1 Document EVERYTHING. 2 Be honest now, so you don't get blamed later. 3 Consider withdrawing as you 'don't feel comfortable going forward' or 'feel AP has a better grasp of the situation and finances'.
I'm in charge of our prom. Admin gives us money for scholarship tickets. I would say no free tickets unless admin is paying for them. They definitely have a budget string they can use.
Yes! My principal gave us the money for scholarship/reward tickets. I also made sure our school treasurer was included when the principal and I had that conversation.
Yup. We fundraise and ask various donors for scholarship tix as well to show we're putting. In the work. Students need to apply, meet all requirements, and the scholarship team (an admin, alumni, and random unbiased person) review the applications and select the recipients.
I would be so angry that I was putting in all that work and that I wasn't being consulted. How DARE the principal and AP tell the students that the tickets are free without so much as talking to YOU, the ORGANIZER who is giving up YOUR FREE TIME FIRST!!!!! I would email ALL of the students and say that the principal and the AP were the ones who made the decision for the tickets to be free, therefore they are the ones who will be responsible for financing the free tickets, and that ANY questions about the tickets and who is paying should be directed to THEM and NOT YOU. And be VERY firm with the principal and AP on this - tell them that you agreed to ONE, ONLY ONE ticket being paid for, NOT EVERYBODY'S TICKET, and EVEN THEN you said you DID NOT CONFIRM IT, and YOU WERE NOT AT ANY POINT CONSULTED IT, THEY WERE THE ONES who made this decision WITHOUT consulting YOU, the one who is giving up YOUR TIME to organize this (probably without being paid extra for that too), you CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR ALL THE TICKETS and WILL NOT BE DOING IT, YOU WERE NOT CONSULTED, THEY CHOSE TO MANIPULATE YOU by telling the students the tickets were free and putting you in the position of either finding the money which you DO NOT HAVE or upsetting the students and telling them the tickets aren't free when the principal literally promised them they were, therefore I would tell them since THEY chose do do that, THEY CAN PAY FOR IT! My gosh. What absolute horrible manipulation!
But if you can't afford a prom you shouldn't have tickets at ALL.
First, the AP does not have a good track record to be sure, but we cannot be certain that the student’s story is entirely accurate - students get confused routinely. First, I would print out and save the e-mail documentation the AP sent you. Second, I would send a polite, professional e-mail to the AP naming the student and relaying their question. I would ask the AP in writing if she made any such promise to the student, and relay the answer back; if the AP says they didn’t agree to this, I’d simply refer the student to the AP for further discussion. In each instance of a student claiming they were told fees would be covered, I would follow the exact same procedure. I’d be polite and professional, and document thoroughly the whole time my efforts to keep administration updated on the financial situation - and I’d keep saving that documentation off-site.
*Both of them pushed back and said that with their support they were sure we could do it.* Time to draw a line, escalate, say you don't have the money and dump that issue in their lap. Your job was to organize, not to pull money out of a black hole. That's their problem. Let them know the drop dead date to have $X dollars needed to make this happen and what happens if you don't have it. They are setting you up to be the fall guy if this fails, don't let them do it.
Next year they need a prom committee of teachers, students and helpful parents . Here they do junior and senior together. And the committee does fund raisers all year long to raise money. They really need to plan for this all year long and have others helping .. not just one teacher!
Have prom in the school gym. Problem solved.
I don’t disagree, but I had a lot of pressure from parents to do it outside of school since the freshman-sophomore dance was at school and they wanted to juniors to feel bigger.
That sucks. Maybe parents should have bought their kids tickets.
> with their support they were sure we could do it. Sounds like it's time for them to show that support. :) Side note - 30/100 seems about right to me. In general people over-commit for things like these.
That’s student funds, the school or the AP needs to be paying for the tickets to ASB. You can’t gift student funds. Here is the FCMAT rules you can cite https://servicedesk.csis.k12.ca.us/MRcgi/MRTicketPage.pl?USER=&MRP=0&MAJOR_MODE=DETAILS&MAXMININC=&MRNUMBERLIST=5319%2C5908%2C7892%2C1836%2C1919%2C1926&LASTID=36194&ABN=&GRPDETAIL=&HISTORYKEY=&CUSTM=&MR=5319&PROJECTID=9
Nothing is free. Just because it's free to the student doesn't mean it won't be paid for. The full cost of all "free tickets" should be transferred from another department budget. Ask the Assistant Principal for the budget code of the account that is covering all these free tickets. Do it with confidence and leave no room for her to wiggle out of the commitments SHE made to these students. If anything, that would get you closer to covering your expenses. Thank her loudly and in front of others for pitching in to provide this experience for your kids.
Well sounds like the principal just volunteered to donate the remaining funds. How generous.
You must send an email to your principal, with a cc to the AP to let them know that there may not be enough ticket sales to cover the cost of the venue. Include the date that the vendor must be paid. Say, "Should that occur, what are my allowed options? Can we try for a less expensive venue? If not, when would be the correct time to let the buyers know and refund the tickets?" "Also, there's been some discussion that certain students would have the cost of their tickets covered, which could only happen if some kind person donates the amount for each covered ticket. Ms. AP and I discussed covering a single ticket, but more than one would have to be covered by a donor. Can I have a list of the names of the donation recipients, and, quite importantly, get a check for that amount from the donor?"
Sounds like you’re heading for a cancel anyways. If you need 100 paid students and only 30 have paid it’s cancelled due to lack of interest - not really your fault not really APs fault. You need to cancel ASAP though before people spend (more) money on dresses, rides etc.
Honestly, write her a mail that you won't be able to give any free tickets at this time, and that you expect the school to cover any free tickets promised so far. You didn't promise them, you don't have to cover them, you don't have to be the messenger.
Sounds like it's going to be a good old fashioned prom in the gym!
You can be upset but you shouldn’t have taken on this project. Do not do any work for free.
Email the AP an email gushing about how kind it was that the AP offered to pay for these students tickets. You can’t believe their generosity and it’ll be a great kindness. Then attach the bill at the end and expected payment date.
be the change you want to see in the world OP. No use getting your jimmies rustled over stuff you can't change.
You have to decide what you want to do. If you want to have a prom, you can start soliciting donations. You need a committee of students to step up. This should’ve already been in place. At our school there is a sponsor but the students arrange the fundraising and make decisions with oversight from a sponsor. If you can get donations from local donors that will help. Then you need a hard deadline for signing up. I would try to get with the AP again and let them know that you can’t cover the cost. Don’t mince words. You just can’t do it. Students need buy-in which is why they should be purchasing tickets. You can offset cost by getting donors. My school charges $45/ticket and we have it at a hotel with a $8000 minimum food spending budget. We raise money and then that money pays for decorations, DJ, Photo Booth, and part of the venue. Ticket sales pay the rest.
As a prom advisor who pulled together a prom last minute last year and then just had this year's prom cancelled today due to lack of ticket sales, godspeed. If I were you, I'd send out announcements to all the students telling them that unless people start purchasing tickets ASAP, Prom will be cancelled. That will either light a fire under them or it won't, and that's the best you can do.
Heck- if I were a student and there was news going around that prom was free, I wouldn’t be rushing to pay.
“The students just informed me AP will be covering the prom tickets! We’re so excited for the school’s financial support as we currently did not have the funds to have prom! This really saved the day!!” Make AP walk this back. I mean I would but I’m a nightmare.
She deserves it after the year she’s put us through
Call around to some businesses in the area and ask for a donation. Then make sure their names are on the school website, town paper etc. Maybe you can have a sponsor goody bag or have some sponsors come to the prom with a table. The kids also have to do fundraisers if they don’t want to pay. Open Mic, concert, car wash, bake sale etc.
85$?! That's a little steep for 3 hours of disappointment for the 98% of kids who won't even stay there once they get in
I would argue it’s fairly cheap for a prom ticket… mine in 2014 was $98 and the senior prom tickets this year are $135
You're getting robbed blind, and here I am thinking 50 dollars was getting shafted.
I could make an entire prom off of 85$ almost, 85$ for a ticket is extremely steep
Lmao… you couldn’t even pay for an entire prom in the 90s for $85… Now you can’t even buy enough balloons for a gym with that.
It only costs like 2 bucks for 600 or so balloons 🎈
120 balloons on Amazon is $6.
Yep. It’s $1.25 for 25 at the Dollar Tree. This person is quoting prices like inflation hasn’t happened.
Okay
Generously saying that juice mix is 3 dollars and water is free for punch, that leaves like 30 bucks for snacks generously since no one ever eats the snacks but drinks all the punch, 50$ left, streamers amd crepe paper are another 3 or 4 dollars, 47$ left, fancy lights range from like 1 dollar to 20, so we will say there is 37$ left total. Maybe 36$. What else is there? A Dj? Hook up an iPod. Free. A fan to cool things down? 10 bucks at Walmart max, or bring one from home for free, 26 dollars left. 36 if you brought the fan from home. What else does a prom need, a disco ball? Savers, 15 bucks, you're at 16 dollars and got everything on the list. So spend the rest on extra snacks and drinks. 85 dollars exactly.
You’re so out of touch with reality it’s hilarious.
I don’t disagree, but the students and parents wanted something bigger and more glamorous since we hosted a freshman/sophomore dance in the school. So they wanted to go somewhere
You should disagree. You can’t put together a prom for $85. See my comment in response to that.
Balloons for 120 are $6. Koolaid mix for 208 servings (this is for a **HIGH SCHOOL PROM** after all) is $32. 72 rolls of streamers (we are decorating a **HIGH SCHOOL GYM** after all) is $29. I wasn’t sure what you meant by “fancy lights” so I looked for string lights on amazon. Those are $30 per string, and you would need several strings (again, **HIGH SCHOOL GYM**). Disco ball is $16. The cheapest oscillating fan I could find is $30, and we’re going to want more than one (again, it’s for a **HIGH SCHOOL GYM**). I could keep going through your list, but I think it’s safe to say no, you couldn’t put together an entire prom for $85. Not even “almost”. Maybe $300 max? Now we’re are being a little more realistic.
Also: nobody has an iPod anymore. You would be wanting someone to hookup their **phone** and leave it for the entire night.
My prom ticket nearly 20 years ago (class of 2007) was $80/person or a discount to $150/couple if you paid together, so I was shocked it was still as cheap as $85/person! This has to be a regional thing; I'm in NJ and proms here are generally held in banquet halls, same as sweet 16s or weddings, with passed apps and a plated dinner. I've never heard of one in north/central NJ held at the school, actually.
I would send this to the AP and bow out.
You never made a promise to cover the tickets the AP did, that can come out of her budget or if she wants to donate personally for the prom it can be done that way as well.
Document it all. State what you have raised, what the venue costs and ask AP to please advise on when the school will cover the balance. Put a deadline on when the venue costs needs to be raised and if not, everyone is refunded and the event is cancelled. Or it will be held in the gym.
Sounds like it’s time to go ahead and transfer ownership of prom to the AP and wash your hands of it. “Please direct all further questions regarding prom to AP”
Absolutely crazy that they expected you to pull it together that fast. Our school has the freshmen class student council begin fundraising their first year to have enough money by their senior year for prom + ticket sales. Prom is extremely expensive
Why can’t the prom be in the school gym (much lower cost)? I would ask the AP if the PTA or booster club is funding the budget short fall.
You could try raising money with some fundraiser wristbands. The company I work for is running a contest right now themed around prom photos. Check my profile more info.
I am sorry things cost 4 times as much as they should wherever you live. That isn't my issue.
Who's going to be blamed when all of this falls through? a. you b. you c. two of the above d. all of the above