Strings major Marisela Amara* works over 20 hours a week to support her single mother. Every day she goes to school, leaves early during her free period, and goes straight to work, staying for around six hours. She then arrives home around 9 p.m. to do her homework or practice her instrument, not sleeping until 12:30 a.m. 

“Usually, my income goes, about half of it, (to my family), maybe a little more,” Amara said. “I give her as much as I can to help out with bills and any payments that need to be made.” 

In the School District of Palm Beach County, 47.25% of students are Directly Certified, meaning they meet at least one qualifier for being a low-income student. This includes students who qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which is government-provided food support. This also applies to students who are homeless, migrants, runaways, in foster care, or qualify for Medicaid. 

The Time Element

18.2% of the school’s student population is Directly Certified. Directly Certified students, like Amara, may need to take a job to supplement their family’s income.

“Before, when I just had the idea of working, I thought it’d be fine, like no work overload,” Amara said. “But when I actually started working, it was difficult to juggle both schoolwork and actual time for my arts (…) because I would spend hours on end at (work). I found myself stressing a lot.”

Visual major John Maricel* also works after school at a restaurant and often stays at his job from 6 p.m. to 12 or 1 a.m. He often wakes up early before school to complete his homework for the day.

“Sometimes, I try to make time, but a lot of times I don’t really (have the ability to get my schoolwork done at my job),” Maricel said. “It’s more like the sleep factor. If I’m working on Monday nights, and I get out (at) like 12 (a.m.), and I have to take a shower, I’m going to sleep at 1 (a.m.).”

The school’s lower percentage of low-income students compared to the district can be, according to Amara, “upsetting” for students from low-income families when they are ranked by grade point average (GPA) against their classmates from high-income families.

“I feel like, especially before I knew how to manage it (my workload), I was a little bit worse with my time scheduling and worse in my grades than others who didn’t (have to work),” Maricel said. “I feel like if I didn’t have that, I’d be able to apply myself more in school.”

The Arts and Economic Differences

Strings major Penelope Short* said she had a passion for the arts early on, but her elementary school didn’t offer art programs. To develop her skills, Short signed up for the Kravis Center’s De George Academy, a program for children from Title One schools (schools with at least 40% low-income families) to receive scholarships that help them grow their interest in the arts. Many resources that can aid in practice for auditions to be accepted into the school can be costly, including instruments, art supplies, dance shoes and costumes, and lessons or tutoring in any art area. Students of lower socioeconomic status may not have the extra money to pay for these supplies or lessons compared to students of high-income families before their audition, leaving them with less practice.

“The only reason I received (these benefits) and I was able to thrive was because I had a scholarship opportunity,” Short said. “I think a lot of the government help and school help that’s been funded is what helped me get to where I am in the arts.”

In the art areas’ respective programs, classes sometimes go on overnight field trips that could cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars that students with less money may not be able to afford. Additionally, art areas can require time after school, ranging from meetings, field trips, and practice to general studying of art areas at home.

“In my (art) area, we were going to do a trip (out of the state), but I couldn’t afford it, so I had to cancel that,” Amara said. “Also, time-wise, the time I have to stay after school for my major, I sometimes can’t (spend that time) because I work, and I can’t call off because I need the money.”  

Students with multiple jobs, like dance major Amanda Kim*, who has three, could be busy every day after school, causing them to “be unavailable for my (their) major.” Kim has missed auditions and recitals that took place during her work schedule. Additionally, she does not dance outside of school in a studio, something her more affluent peers might have access to. 

“There are days that I’d like to focus more on involving myself with my art, but then I just can’t physically (do that) because of the fact that I have work,” Kim said. “It (working) does handicap me in some way. I’d like to do everything I want to, but there’s only so much time, and I don’t have time to do anything beyond what I have to do, which is working.” 

Academic and Extracurricular Differences

According to a 2025 casual survey by The Muse**, 29.9% of students who work said their job has affected their ability to take extra classes outside of school. Advanced Placement (AP) classes on Florida Learning Virtual School (FLVS) and dual enrollment classes are weighted as a 6.0 on the honors point average (HPA) scale, raising the HPAs of the students who take these classes. Students who have to work may “have less time,” according to Amara, to take these extra classes, making it difficult for them to be ranked as highly as students with more time outside of school. According to a 2023 survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, 76.8% of college counselors for four-year colleges said that high school grades in college prep courses were of “considerable importance,” the highest percentage for any factor in the college admissions process they surveyed.

“To be honest, when I take classes, or when I do things overall, I don’t really put into the equation that I work,” Amara said. “I kind of forget that I actually have to work and then taking extra classes becomes really hard for me.” 

Students’ hobbies and extracurricular activities could also be costly. For Kim and Maricel, two working students interested in engineering, materials for their academics, hobbies, and projects can be hard to get without a price. Kim gets supplies for her projects for free from her robotics team, and Maricel said that he reaches out for help from science teachers who supply him with materials.

“There’s a big issue with people (who) come from really high-income families (who) are able to do more (academic or extracurricular work) because people (who) don’t work don’t have to be concerned with financial issues, and they can then, therefore, gear more time towards their academic studies and their pursuits,” Kim said. 

According to a 2023 study by Brown University’s Annenberg Institute, those from wealthier backgrounds and private schools listed more leadership roles in high school on average than those from less affluent backgrounds. Some activities after school require additional money to participate, like certain sports teams or school-related extracurriculars like speech and debate or music competitions that often include travel expenses. Working students, like Maricel or Amara, may also have less time in their day to participate in clubs or leadership positions that require time outside of school.

“I haven’t really done many extracurriculars, (taken a position) in school government, or (done other) outside (of) school extracurriculars that other people might do,” Maricel said. “I have to purposely lower my workload because I can’t manage it all.”

“Providing Equal Footing”

According to the same casual survey by The Muse**, 25% of working students contribute at least some of the money they earn to their family’s expenses. While only 8.2% of working students said they, like Amara, work primarily to help their family with financial needs, other students, like Kim, also work to support themselves, using their income to contribute to expenses that “other(s’) families can pay.”

“Most of the money (that I earn from working) goes towards my bills,” Kim said. “So, for example, car insurance. I drive a lot, and (I also pay for) my gas. Recently, my family was having some financial struggles, so I try to load on more jobs to help subsidize (support my family with) that. It’s (the money earned from working) mostly for me to pay my expenses, and also if I want to get food.”

Many students in Maricel’s financial situation not only have to worry about the cost of school, art areas, and extracurriculars, but also the potential cost of college tuition. QuestBridge is a highly selective college match service that pairs low-income students with partner colleges. Students who match with colleges receive full tuition scholarships. Maricel used QuestBridge to match with a school.

“It’s definitely a huge weight that’s off my shoulders (that) I don’t really have to worry about (paying for college),” Maricel said. “I don’t really know how I would have been able to pay for college, but with QuestBridge, that’s a huge help.”

The Ray of Light Program, created by the School of the Arts Foundation Inc. (SOAFI), assists students like Amara. This program gives up to $500 to help students pay for costs that they may not be able to afford, including school trips, tutors, or supplies for arts or academics. SOAFI CEO Chris Snyder said that the foundation “likes to provide students with equal footing.” Additionally, SOAFI works with the McKinney-Vento Program, a district program that provides homeless students with outreach and supplies. Together, they supply homeless students at the school with additional resources.

“We don’t want a student to fall through the cracks,” Dr. Snyder said. “We don’t want them to not come to school because they don’t have a ride, or they don’t have the proper clothing. (We have) even helped in instances with (students who needed) food (and) beds for homes. We leverage our relationships and the people we know in the community to help make those connections for families (and students) (who) are in need.”

According to Dr. Snyder, the SAT preparation classes provided by SOAFI improved students’ SAT scores by 200 points on average. School counseling director Olga Middleton also said that SOAFI can give students “access to those support systems (scholarships or connections) so they all can succeed”.

“They’re (students with SOAFI scholarships) less stressed, they’re more prepared, both academically and within the arts,” Ms. Middleton said.

Despite the help that Short has received from organizations like SOAFI and the De George Academy, she feels a “disconnect” when she discusses her family’s issues with her peers because of the lower population of low-income students at the school. Short said she “wishes people could listen.”

“People just have to be aware that even if your peers aren’t talking about it (economic issues), it’s going to directly affect people at the school,” Short said. “There are people who have been insensitive to all the things going on, and I’d say to just be aware and stay aware of what’s going on, pay attention to the news, and to be empathetic.”

*Names are changed and grades are omitted to help protect the sources’ identities.

**The data included was gathered from a casual digital survey given by The Muse via English classes Jan. 28-31, 2025 to 829 students.