Inflation is a word everyone is familiar with as of late. Now, inflation has taken its toll on the St. Louis High School community with raised concession prices during home games. Popcorn that used to be $1.00 has been raised to $1.50; candy has been raised from $1.00 to $1.50. The price change was noticed by students during the Jan. 27, home basketball game versus Michigan Lutheran Seminary. 

The recent price changes have strongly affected students at St. Louis High School. In a community that has a large amount of free and reduced lunches, this simple price hike can highly affect students. Now, in order to get into a home basketball game, it can cost $5.00 for admission, $2.00 for a hot dog, $2.00 for a water or pop, and $1.50 for popcorn or candy. It can be very easy to spend more than $10.00 for a home basketball game or wrestling match now. This may be unattainable for many students.

A lot of  St. Louis students have expressed disapproval over the newest price changes. Several students have called the new popcorn prices “outrageous.” An avid member of the student cheer section and home basketball game attendee, Senior Jenna Abell stated, “I think paying that much for popcorn is ridiculous. I can understand the change in candy prices but the popcorn is unbelievable.” 

Some students believe that prices should be rounded to the dollar amount. Junior Benjamin March believes that, “nobody carries around change,” so the price raise is inconvenient for customers. Another Junior, Lexie Thayer remarked, “I think having the prices set at $1.50 is silly. It makes the job for those who are working the concession stand much more difficult to count the coins.”

The discussion of rounding the amounts to the dollar has spiked an idea in the student body — to raise the candy to $2.00 and lower the popcorn to $1.00. Many agree this is a fair and logical solution. 

While many students are upset, the price changes cannot be blamed on the school or Athletic Director Mr. Anderson. Inflation rates throughout the world and in particular the United States have been rising between 5 percent and 15 percent and are only recently calming down. Many prices have been raised, but the question still remains whether the recent price hike was necessary or not. 

Athletic Director Mr. Anderson said that the price raise was necessary, as he, “changed the prices based on how much the products cost us. Some have already been changed and we haven’t seen a dip in sales so we determined it was time.” Anderson also stated, “Ultimately, we feel that our prices are fair. We feel that we can raise prices hoping that there is an understanding that it costs a lot to run athletic events as well as funding trips for Spanish club, class of 2024, and BPA [Business Professionals of America]. When you are buying from the concession stand we are hoping that you know you are supporting the students and that should be our number one focus.”

Members of the student body acknowledge this as well. March, in particular, believes the price change, “will bring more money to athletic events and the student body” and help the school. While the price changes were not welcomed warmly, they will likely benefit the student body in the long run rather than harm it.