As of fall 2024, despite major budget cuts, ASB is working to try and offer the senior class with their annual activities – the Harbor Cruise and Disneyland trip. However, ASB could not guarantee these activities to the class of 2025. ASB adviser DJ Sosnowski said these activities were initially reconsidered due to insurance disputes.
“We are looking at a reduced number of senior events because of the district’s strict risk management position,” he said. “The reason we had to cut these activities was because the school district’s insurance would only cover a portion of the amount in a lawsuit. What this means is that if a student was injured at Disneyland or the harbor cruise, the insurance company would pay for a portion of it, but if the amount was greater than that, the district itself would need to pay for the remainder of the claim. This was a policy directed towards all field trips outside of the county of San Diego that were not viewed as educational in purpose.”
Additionally, for the Disneyland trip, many seniors last year bought their tickets outside of Westview, but still went on the same day as the school. This led to ASB losing the money that they paid upfront for both the ticket and the buses. Seeing that the events ASB puts on are self-funded, it’s imperative that the seniors buy the tickets through ASB.
“For example, last year we charged $200 for the Disneyland trip. The Disney ticket was $175 alone. The extra $25 was to offset the cost of transportation,” Sosnowski said.
However, as word has gotten out about the potential loss of the Harbor Cruise and Disneyland trip, many people think that ASB is at fault.
“The biggest impact has been that we are being blamed for the lack of senior events and it makes our program seem like we don’t want to do them or don’t care about student voice,” Sosnowski said. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. However, we need to do what we are told and follow the rules of the school district.”
Senior class presidents Leilani Aboy (12) and Bella Weilhammer-Emory (12), have had to face the daunting task of quickly planning for new events.
“It definitely felt like it would be a big challenge to find and execute senior activities, which become overwhelming at one point,” Aboy said.
However, as the discussion within the board had ensued, there has been a reconsideration from the district to keep the Harbor Cruise.
“Interestingly enough, this seems to be changing in real time,” Sosnowski said. “I have received word that we can investigate certain senior activities and they might be approved. We are currently looking into the harbor cruise again. I think the board was willing to assume a certain amount of risk for an activity that has not had an issue in the past. It’s all changing quickly and we do not have a plan in place yet, but I am excited to find ways for the class of 2025 to have fun, memorable events with their class. ”
Although there have been some setbacks in planning these traditional senior events, Aboy and Weilhammer-Emory have new activities coming for the class of 2025, despite the new regulations.
“We’ve been brainstorming some potential class trips,” Weilhammer-Emory said. “Though dates for them haven’t been set, and they haven’t been approved by the board, we’ve thought about doing a Padres game trip, a couple class movie nights at a theater, and bonfire nights. We would also love to hear back from the senior class on what they think of these events and what they would want for future activities.”
