A new policy affecting candy sellers, announced Tuesday, November 20 on stuysu.org, went into effect Monday, December 3. Now, only sellers licensed by the Student Union (SU) are allowed to sell candy in school.
Licensed candy sellers are given a permit to be attached to their candy box, showing the SU’s approval, the vendor’s name, the club to whom proceeds will go and the expiration date of the permit.
This idea arose last year when teachers who found candy selling in class disruptive complained to Principal Stanley Teitel. Teitel consulted the SU, which decided to address the problem by creating the permit system for selling candy.
Only presidents and treasurers of clubs and publications may apply for permits, which they will then distribute to their club members. These applications, which includes information such as what the club plans to do with the money, the fundraising goal and other sources of funding for the club, are submitted to the SU Club/Pub Committee.
“The purpose of the system is to cut down on the amount of people who are selling candy for their own profit,” SU President Jamila Ma said.
Clubs are concerned this new rule limits the amount of candy they can sell.
Senior and Science Olympiad (SO) president Eric Mayo is disappointed by the few permits his club received. According to Mayo, the SO requested 50 permits—one permit for each member of the club—and received only four.
“After careful consideration of each application, we will inform you on our decision of how many permits you are entitled to,” a message posted on stuysu.org said.
Mayo said that the SO’s fundraising goal for the year is $6,000. This mark will be near impossible to reach by selling only four boxes at a time, with a $15-profit from each candy box sold.
“This is really annoying me. They tell me to sell candy, but at the same time, they tell me not to sell candy,” Mayo said.
Senior and SU Club/Pub Co-Director Eliot Kim said some larger clubs like the SO only received four permits because the Club/Pub Committee wanted to give permits to the smaller clubs first. The SU reserved a higher priority for clubs that had a lower fundraising goal. Awarding more permits to smaller clubs would allow them to achieve their goals quickly. The surplus of permits would then be given to the larger clubs.
The permits are valid for one month. Once they expire, the club must submit a request for a new permit.
