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Students voice their unification concerns-- but who's listening?
By Cecily Barnes
Two teenagers exchange open-mouth kisses on the cement steps at Prospect High School. Other students dig inside shiny potato chip bags or throw basketballs around. Most simply mill around as teenagers do.
Toward the rear of the school however, a group of nearly 30 students is doing something more substantive. They're meeting in Georgianna Hayes' classroom to talk about a June 8 election that they are too young to vote in, but which concerns an issue that will directly affect the next two years of their lives--Measure A. If passed, this measure will allow Moreland School District to acquire Prospect and Blackford high schools from the Campbell Union High School District.
Students gathered in the portable building behind Prospect lean across their desks, and stretch their hands to the sky, anxious to share their worries with someone. The most common concern deals with the teachers.
"My two favorite teachers this year would be leaving," says sophomore Betsy Williams. "They've told me they will."
If Moreland acquires the school, teachers who have contracts with CUHSD will choose whether to stay with their employer or cross over to Moreland. Since many teachers have been with CUHSD for years, students and parents fear that many will remain with CUHSD district, leaving Prospect with hardly anybody.
Sixteen-year-old Carl Simien raised his hand to share his observations. At a recent Moreland board meeting the students had attended, Simien just sat in the crowd and watched.
"We weren't on the agenda, but the students said they had questions, and they asked us, 'how many do you have?'" Simien says. "It was like they were bothered just to hear our opinions."
Another teen chimes in.
"We all wound up standing in the back of the room because there weren't enough seats," he says.
At this point, 20 or more hands shoot into the air. Many of the students feel the district should be reaching out to them, holding meetings specifically to listen to their concerns.
Moreland superintendent Jim Ritchie says that if Moreland wins the election, it plans to significantly involve the students.
"One of the things we care most about is increasing the student voice in the school," Ritchie says. "To do that, you're going to have to talk to students."
The students however, wish they had been involved much sooner.
"I feel like a guinea pig because I don't know what's going on," says 15-year-old sophomore Leyli Ghadiri.
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Campbell, California
