For those of you who remember what your high school yearbooks were like, I need to ask a few questions.

1. Were there excessive pages devoted to stupid displays of a few people involved with the yearbook committee that were not printed on paid advertisement pages? (As in stuff like fictious clubs and settings of no relevance to the interests of the school or senior class at large)

2. How much did you yearbook cost and what year (adjust for general inflation)

3. If you are at all familiar with the cost structures of your high school's yearbook committee please discuss

I'm asking because I'm personally very outraged at the mishandling of school funds for yearbook publication by the yearbook committee at my school. I need a basis for comparison, I think I might bring up suggestions for a abridged version next year absent all this nonsense at reduced cost so the school doesn't have to subsidize personal albums. Plus a possible audit of their books so find where the money is all going.

Geez bro you really want to reach the goal!

Only 107 left to go....... [:D]

Let's see...

I don't recall the yearbook staff having an unusual amount of space devoted to their staff.

I also don't recall any "fictitious" clubs represented in the yearbook.  We had dozens of clubs from Key club (mini-Kiwanians) to, believe it or not, a trapshooting club.

Think of it this way:  In a couple of years, you won't give a rat's ass what happened in high school, so relax dude.  A congressional hearing about the possible improprieties of your high school yearbook staff isn't really necessary.  Believe me, the schools piss away far more money on far more useless things than your yearbook staff could dream of.

Fictitious clubs?

I can't help a lot because mine was long, long ago in a.....

But I will tell you that you might ask the PTA if they got anything from the yearbook company, photo company, etc.  To seal a deal, companies that work through schools on stuff the students/parents pay for will sometimes sweeten the deal with a promise of something going to the PTA or the school.   I never heard the word "kickback" used by any teachers, though.

Unfortunately though I'm unable to retrieve the info right now, I think they wanted something like $60 for the yearbook.  This is a pretty large high school.

There was some kind of scandal, though it might have been about class rings or photography.  The incumbent company tried to get around any kind of competitive bidding, and as you may be finding, these outfits know how to grease the skids.

There was some issue with their price quotes to win the deal not being real.

Look at this:
[url]http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=21year.h18[/url]

The issues in this case sound similar, even if I can't remember who the vendor and what the product was at my son's HS.

As far as excessive attention to the students who worked on the yearbook is concerned, try deep, controlled, breathing exercises.

While I didn't work on my school's yearbook, I did work on the school paper.

These people did a lot of work and often had trouble getting material, photo arrangements, etc. from the clubs.  And there wasn't a lot of recognition for their hard work.

If they engage in a little narcissism, so what?
Did it increase the page count by 10%?

No fictitious clubs, only one page about the staff-although all the non-jock/popular people featured were friends of the photographers.

Cost was about $18.00 back in '84-'88.

well how does $90 sound for a senior class of 180 people?

$90.00?!?!?!  Absolutely ridiculous, especially considering your class size..

which is what I'm saying. All those extra pages (public ones, not paid advertisements) devoted to a few in the inner circle of yearbook committee. I don't know how they spent this money, the the guy I talked to claim that this actually didn't cover all the costs of the yearbook. If you ask me, I think something is wrong that $90 a copy for a senior class of 180 doesn't cover all the costs.

BTW, thanks for the tip prk. I'm going to start talking to people Monday and perhaps enlist a few of my friends to investigate this matter further.

The issue of abusing public office for private ends irks me to no end. Everyone has a thing that they care deeply about. This is mine, I can't stand it when people abuse public trust for private ends, there's something just so wrong about it.

My senior year yearbook was $40 back in '90.  Most of the clubs/groups/activities had a page or two dedicated to them.  The "major" sports had 2 to 4 pages (football, baseball, softball).  Our yearbooks also had different sections (maybe a page or two each) for the television shows, movies, music, etc that were popular and also a few sections on different major news events of that year.  There were also sections that covered events at the school during the school year (homecoming, prom, talent show, etc).

13 years ago I don't remember.

$90 is way high.

Can you give us a page count breakdown?
For example:

1.  Student Photos & School staff
2.  Real clubs (how many and page count)
3.  Regular school activities
4.  Sponsor ads (if there's few, that would drive up the price)?
5.  "Phony" clubs or whatever yearbook staff appropriated for themselves.
6. Any other catergories that are meaningful

By the way, as you and your friends check into this, write it all down.  Names - first and last - dates, times, figures, etc.  That will save having to redo a lot of this stuff later, should it get serious.

Also, and this is very important, everyone should avoid making accusations, though it might be very tempting to do so, and the facts might urge it.  Let the facts speak for themselves.  

The issue at my son's high school was covered in some depth by the the school newspaper.  It might be a bit late now for you to do that, but
keep in mind for the Junior class, the yearbook action starts in January or before sometimes.  Maybe they need a watchdog on next year's yearbook committee or staff.

[shock][shock][shock][shock]

90 Freaking dollars?  WTF?

Are the pages printed on gold leaf with platinum letters?????