Overall ASB revenues at Edmonds School District high schools steady; student stores and vending machines down

There was good news and bad news about Associated Student Body (ASB) revenues at the four high schools in the Edmonds School District.

District Executive Director of Business and Operations Stewart Mhyre reported that overall ASB revenues are up from last year at this time but school store and vending revenues are down.

In a report delivered at Tuesday’s School Board meeting, Mhyre said that total ASB revenues through February are about $9,000 ahead of last year but $29,000 behind two years ago.

Mountlake Terrace and Meadowdale High School ASB revenues are down, while Lynnwood and Edmonds-Woodway High Schools are up. Mhyre noted that in terms of sources of ASB revenues, money from Student Body (ASB cards, yearbooks, student store, vending machines) were down, while revenues from Athletics and Clubs were up. Mhyre did not know the reasons for the changes.

Mhyre then presented charts that showed the percentage of general ASB revenue derived from student stores and noted a downward trend. Two years ago student stores accounted for 11.8 percent and a year ago it was 13.5 percent. Through February of this year, student stores now account for only 6.1 percent of ASB revenue, a decline of 7.4 percent.

This is the first year that all schools in the nation have to comply with new nutritional standards from the federal government that eliminate most junk foods.

Student stores at Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds-Woodway showed declines between 6.1 and 10.8 percent. Meadowdale, however, only declined 1.3 percent. Mhyre noted that the Meadowdale student store only brought in about $3,600, significantly less than the District’s three other schools. Edmonds-Woodway’s student store produced $27,600. It was not clear why Meadowdale’s numbers are so low, though there was speculation that there is no organization to run the store at the school.

Overall revenues from student stores are projected to be about $60,000 this year, below the past two years, which saw numbers around $100,000.

The percentage of ASB revenues from vending machines also declined 2.9 percent from last year to 4.8 percent. Two years ago vending machines provided 8.8 percent of ABS revenues and last year they were 7.7 percent. The four high school’s ranged from 4.0 percent (Meadowdale) to 6.2 percent (Edmonds-Woodway).

Mhyre did see the federal nutritional requirements and their impact on student stores as an opportunity for students to learn about the business world.

“They have to react to market conditions, to changes in laws, to global realities,” he said. “I can’t think of a more fantastic teaching opportunity.”

— By David Pan

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.

By commenting here you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read our code at the bottom of this page before commenting.