Since the beginning of the school year, students haven’t been rushing to the student store as often because the student store switching from brand names like Gatorade and Lays Potato Chips to generic brands.

Products sold, according to the district, are to be approved by the Cafe LA program. They have provided a list on the Cafe LA website for approved snacks/beverages, which students don’t find as appealing.

Some of the approved foods include low fat popcorn, PopChips and V8 juice.

“When we were forced to drop (the other foods), so the student store money dropped,” said Principal Deb Smith. “Students basically stopped going completely.”

When DPMHS separated from Birmingham Community Charter High School (BCCHS) in 2009, the school was filed as an elementary school, therefore was not given a financial adviser. People under this position are required to implement rules from the district and make sure the school stays true to that.

“The district realized that we were a high school,” Smith said. “We need to have all the things that a normal high school would have.”

Once the school’s financial manager Tammy Tran arrived, the school had to make changes with the way it ran it’s events and products sold since the district no longer saw the campus as an elementary school.

Tran declined to be interviewed.

For example, when an event is held and money is earned, 50 percent of the proceeds go toward the student body. There are a few exceptions such as events that are exclusive to a certain club or class, like senior only night or a freshman only dance, all the money goes to that class or club. However, once the event is opened to the rest of the school, half of the money must goes toward student body.

The money that the student body receives can be spent on what they wish. However, elected class officials from each grade and student body officers have their “congress meetings” in order to decide where and when that money goes.

“It’s really hard because (congress) meetings are every other week so have to plan all our fundraisers around that,” said senior class president Gabriella Avendano. “The district also has a lot of restrictions so we can’t always approve (the fundraiser) which can be discouraging.”