Editorials

Is Fall Formal Too Expensive?

Alexia De La Mora, Julius Molina

October 7, 2023

Preuss will hold their annual Fall Formal on Friday, October 13th from 6:00 to 9:00pm. The theme of the dance is House of Cards. ASB will sell tickets for three weeks, from September 25th to October 11th. The first week the tickets cost $20; then every week after they will increase by $5. Guest tickets are priced at $30 for the first two weeks and then will no longer be sold. As the dance approaches, students have been heard complaining about the pricing for the tickets, so the Preuss Insider Editorial Staff decided to take on this debate: Are Fall Formal Tickets too Expensive?

YES

Julius Molina

The fall formal tickets are expensive. ASB should understand that because we are low income it will be difficult to pay for these Fall Formal tickets. They should be more flexible and cooperative with the pricing.

“I feel like a lot of people at the school are low income and they can’t afford things that are expensive. I mean at my old public school it would be 10 dollars. The bare minimum you guys can do is lower it down,” states Ariel Ceballos (‘27).

Some families at Preuss have difficulty putting food on the table because of financial issues. ASB should take that into consideration and make their tickets cost less. Yes, there are other schools that sell their tickets for more, but Preuss is for low income families.

“Every day the cost of everything is getting so expensive that it’s hard to live with no money,” says Ceballos (‘27).

At my old school, Harriet Tubman Village charter school in La Mesa, they sold dance tickets for 5 dollars. They had their own DJ who let them choose music. Their prom tickets were 10 dollars, 5 for the dance, and the other 5 were for a proper dinner. It doesn’t make sense that another school asks for so little and a school full of low income students asks for so much.

Besides the pricing of the dance it also might be difficult for kids at Preuss to come because it’s so far and will be dangerous for them to travel at night. Another reason this money can be wasteful is that students might be embarrassed to dance because teachers are going to be there.

The pricing, the distance, and the point of dance are all factors that add on to how wasteful it is to attend the Fall dance.

Alexia De La Mora

The pricing on the tickets is fair due to the fact that many schools, like Grossmont High School in El Cajon, charge students $40 for a dance that is boring. Grossmont High School did not have a DJ at their dance which is an integral part of an event. That makes the price even less worth paying. In contrast, Preuss will be providing a DJ where students could request songs. Preuss will also provide free snacks such as chips and Oreo cookies that students can enjoy.

Many schools don’t allow students to bring their own guests, but Preuss is selling tickets for guests that are only 30 dollars. Grossmont High School in El Cajon has dances that only allow students to go and not bring any guests or friends. Its recent homecoming was said to be plain and the only thing that students really enjoyed was the photo booth. I have many friends that go to Grossmont and they said they didn’t like the theme which was Coachella.

“The theme of the dance overall just sounds way better than the one here and I would totally choose to go to a party with a theme like that,” Amiah Olivia, a freshman from Grossmont High School states.

The prices are a really good deal for what the school is offering and would give students a nice introduction to the year. There are not many schools that offer the deals that Preuss is offering for us which I think we should all be very grateful for.

The Preuss Insider

The Preuss Insider

The Preuss Insider

Is Fall Formal Too Expensive?

The Preuss Insider