With prom around the corner on April 28, the Palo Alto High School Associated Student Body hopes that more students will purchase tickets.

As of Friday, approximately 50 spots remain unfilled before the number of students attending prom meets contractual expectations, according to Student Activities Director Matt Hall. If students do not fill the spots, ASB would still have to pay for the empty seats, according to Hall.

“Let’s say we committed to 700 and only 600 brought tickets,” Hall said. “We would still have to pay for 700.”

Beyond overpaying, if the number of students attending does not meet expectations, it may result in organizational difficulties, according to Paly Auditor Julia Sing.
 
“It makes life very, very difficult to give them a firm number, they have to prepare,” Sing said. “As far as I know we still have room.”

Last year, 719 students attended prom. So far, about 650 tickets have been sold, according to Hall.

Hall said he must notify certain contractors by Monday regarding Paly’s total attendance numbers. One of these contractors is a busing company. ASB has currently reserved 16 buses, capable of seating 790 people or so. Hall is unsure if that number will be met and, if it is not, whether Paly will receive a refund.

“Business is business; contracts are contracts,” Hall said. “Corporations don’t care about public school teenage problems. That’s the world, baby, that’s capitalism; that’s business.”

The final deadline to buy tickets from the Auditor’s office is today, Friday April 20. However, tickets will be available online until midnight on Sunday, April 22, at the Paly Web Store.