Prom is always a day that most high school students look forward to, but students and parents are a little on edge about ticket prices. Students often wonder why prom tickets are so expensive and what goes into determining the price.
Most students at AHS think prom tickets are too expensive for just one night. Jar’riyah Boyd, a senior here at AHS has this to say about ticket prices. “Yes, I feel like for the price seniors should be more involved,” Boyd said, “I understand the time and money that goes into it but at the same time not everyone who wants to go to prom can afford it, so I feel like those who can pay it pay and those who can’t there should be a way they can come up with the money to pay for it.”
Having a way for students to come up with the money for prom tickets like helping with prom or fundraisers can not only help students pay for their prom tickets, but it can also be added to next year’s prom budget if there is money left over.
When asked about if there was any opportunity like these to buy tickets, Megan Schmidt, a teacher and one of the sponsors for prom this year, said, “Because we’ve been so busy with prom we haven’t had time to fully sit down and talk about it, but I’ve been doing some research looking a couple options. Talking to previous sponsors to see what they have done in the past to help kinda fund those accounts,” Schmidt said. “We’re hoping during the summer to look at more options and other schools around the area to get some ideas for next year.”
Not all students feel like prom tickets are priced unfairly. Kai’yah Baxter, a senior, was asked if she thought prom tickets were a fair price compared to how much you would spend on getting ready, Baxter stated, “Considering how small the location is I think it’s a fair price,” she said, “For everything it’s around $250.”
But it’s not just Baxter agreeing with ticket prices. Jesiah Harris, the student council Creative Executive Director said, “I think it’s reasonable, I know other schools that are $50 and over.” He is not wrong. Many schools around AHS, like Fishers, Liberty Christian, and Guerin Catholic all have tickets going for upwards of $50.
Even Schmidt says prom tickets are a little on the pricey side. “Honestly I think it’s a lot but unfortunately how much things have increased in cost,” Schmdit says, “I’m hoping to do more fundraising with the juniors next year.”
But what really goes into ticket pricing and can it be lower? Schmidt lets us in on how AHS decides the price. “We look at the budget, we look at how much venues cost, we try to decide how much decor is gonna be, photo booth, photographers,” said Schmidt. “ We factor all that in. We can sell 350 tickets max and we divide that by 40 to make the budget.”
What is the budget for prom you may or may not be wondering. According to Schmidt prom is usually around $12,000- $15,000. This may seem like alot, but Schmidt tries to put this in perspective. “Depending on pricing if we get deals on things, by the end we either break even or have around $2,000-$3,000 left over, and that money goes into next year’s prom budget.” When asked when prom starts to be planned Schmidt said, “The venue the day after prom. If everyone likes the DJ we try to book them that night at the end of prom.”
Prom is a night to remember, regardless of the price of tickets. Everyone should have the opportunity to go even if they don’t end up going. Students are hopeful that in future years prom tickets can go down or we have fundraisers to help pay for students tickets or prom supplies.
