Athletics have always been a big deal in high school, and SHS’s athletics have made many accomplishments in the past, but do they really deserve the majority of the school’s finances?

There have been many renovations and additions to the athletic department just in the past couple of years such as the upgrade of the weight room, field house, football stadium and the addition of the Ruben (a practice facility). These are all useful things, but are they more important than the rest of the school?

All of their lives, athletes have been told, “you are a student before you are an athlete,” and that, “school comes first”. Well shouldn’t this be the case when it comes to renovations and financial decisions? Money should be going to upgrading classrooms, desks, Smart boards, chromebooks or even school lunches. Things that every student in this school uses, not just athletes.

It isn’t just the utilities the athletes use, but the money spent on the athletes themselves as well. Although some sports teams have their own fundraisers to help raise money, the athletic department still provides most of them with athletic gear, bags and clothing.

According to The Atlantic, the United States roughly spends more tax dollars per high school athlete than per high school math student. At the very least, they should get close to the same amount. Yes athletes contribute to the school by bringing people together and giving students something to root for, but math is something that every student in this school takes. It is something important that we need in our future.

Most students go to college to pursue an education based on academics, so subjects like math, science, english, social studies and many more are what we should be putting the majority of our money towards. Even other extra curricular activities like theatre, music, robotics, yearbook, military service, and color guard deserve just as much money towards what they need as sports does.

Overall, our focus needs to shift more towards worrying about what a school is actually for, rather than the way a gym looks for a basketball game. Yes, athletics are a huge part of what makes up a school, but not all of these high school athletes will go on to get scholarships for the sports they play, or even go on to pursue a career in sports. A lot of those high school athletes will want to major in specific subjects that may not involve sports at all.

At a certain age, people may get too old to play sports, so let’s focus more on our educations that will help us pursue jobs that may benefit us for life.