While researching, interviewing, and digging for this week’s story about TWIRP cancellation, Sarah Fixmer and I uncovered details that didn’t quite add up. All in all, we found that while TWIRP was cancelled to supposedly save money, no one could give us exact numbers on how much the cancellation really saved the district.

Admission fees for the dances usually cover the DJ. However, last year there was no DJ cost because students danced to a Spotify playlist.

Chaperones are paid out of the activity fund, so the sponsoring organization, in this case Student Council and AHS Fuel, could pay chaperones with ticket income. Another solution would be to hire volunteer chaperones.

So if the school didn’t have to worry about those two things, the money could be used to cover the cost of the minimal electricity bill. The lights are off in the commons during TWIRP, except for the bathroom lights.

It could also possibly be used to pay the janitors if cost was the push for TWIRP to be cancelled.

As for running the vending machines, there are hardly any students that purchase drinks/snacks from the machines during a dance. Most go out to eat before a dance, so they’re too full to buy any snacks. Water fountains are the only attraction to students at a dance, which is a minimal cost to run.

Some will argue that we’d still need to come up with enough money to hire a photographer. The school doesn’t pay Fischer Photography, or any other photography company that comes to set up and take pictures. The photography company brings their own backgrounds and is only paid from the amount of pictures/bundles that they sell.

There are multiple solutions to the cost problems. Unless the district can come up with real numbers, there’s no reason that TWIRP was included in the budget cut. So maybe next year we can keep out both our school spirit and our dancing shoes.