Last Wednesday, a large group of students, mainly from Culver City High School, gathered at the main auditorium at West Los Angeles College to see what the three candidates for the school board had to say about the problems the students face every day at school.
High school economics teacher Mrs. Gilbert-Rolfe had every one of her students think about things they would like to see changed at the Culver City schools and write down three questions they had for the school board candidates.
Many of her students attended the forum and some were assigned a question to ask that they felt passionate about.
As the candidates expressed their opinions while answering the questions, I believe that the candidates learned about the students just as much as the students learned about the candidates. About half way through the forum when a student walked down the aisle to the microphone to ask their question, almost everyone in the audience stood up to demonstrate that they too were concerned with the subject raised in the question.
This simple action was truly powerful.
The three candidates, Anne Burke, Kelly Kent, and Scott McVarish, leaned back in their chairs with a surprised expression on their face in awe. The majority of students that did not know what to expect at the forum say that they are extremely glad that they attended because it made them feel much more involved with the community and like they could make a difference at their school because their voice was heard, whether they asked a question to the candidates or if they stood up in agreement with someone else’s question.
One other student asked the candidates how students could continue to keep in touch with school board members as they were that night. This was the most important question of the night as observations of students are very valuable and should be the most important source of information to school board members when making decisions to improve the Culver City Schools.
This forum proved that if school board members reach out to students, students will in fact respond because there are major problems that many students want to be fixed.
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One student’s view of the
CCUSD candidates forum
By Ada Meighan-Thiel
Grade 5, Linwood Howe
The Ask 2 Know Kids’ School Board Candidate Forum was held at West Los Angeles College on Oct. 14. The candidates were Anne Allarie Burke, Scott McVarish, and Dr. Kelly Kent. All three are going for the same position with only two spots available.
To open the forum each candidate got to introduce themselves. Then they started discussing the different issues in the Culver City schools. One person at a time, students would come up to the microphone when their name was called and ask their question. Then the candidates would answer.
One issue that came up was the new LMU math program. The student who brought up this issue did not like it. They said that it was very confusing. When Scott McVarish took his turn to speak he asked for you to stand up if you thought the same about this new LMU math program. Approximately 40 people stood.
Then he asked you to stand if you liked this new program. About 4 people stood up. Each candidate said that they would do their best to fix this issue if they were elected. Soon after this another issue was brought up. Apparently water fountains are not working and they charge $1 for a bottle of water. Without being prompted several students just stood up. This frustrated the candidates.
Dr. Kelly Kent said that if your water fountains are not working than you should be given free water bottles. The heat was also causing difficulty for the students. They discussed how the air conditioning was broken in several classes. Many students stood up agreeing with that opinion on how the air conditioning needed to be fixed.
The next big issue that was brought up was school hours. The person who brought this issue up said that she found studies that stated that high schoolers were more likely to stay up later and sleep in more. Therefore, school should start at 9 am.
Scott McVarish said that he was aware of such studies and agreed. Anne Alarie Burke suggested year-round school for shorter days and longer breaks. Another issue that was brought up is the bathrooms. Many stalls lack doors and urinals lack dividers. Since only one stall works, in a 6 minute passing time it takes you 5 minutes to use the bathroom. Many students stood up, all agreeing that this must be changed. Anne Alarie Burke suggested unisex bathrooms so there would be more room for extra stalls.
The final issue that I will discuss is the food. One person brought up that the food at their school cafeteria was occasionally expired, not tasting good, and very greasy and unhealthful. People stood up at this.
Dr. Kelly Kent made it clear that if she won, one of her missions would be to get better food in the cafeterias.
Overall, going to the student forum was a positive experience for me and if you have never been, I recommend that you go next time.
