Natalie Bachman
In April, the Campbell Union High School District released a Thought Exchange, encouraging students, parents, and teachers to share their concerns about the school community. Below, we have summarized some of the most common complaints that those surveyed expressed.
This article is designed to merely be informational. However, if you feel strongly about any of the topics listed below, we encourage you to either leave a comment below (so long as it is respectful) or construct an article for our first edition of the next school year. The Editors-In-Chief must approve all comments before they go public, and will not approve anything disrespectful.
- School Lunch
While students and parents seemed pleased with the prospect of offering free lunch, they didn’t hold back their complaints. One parent asked for larger portions, commenting that “students need to eat food in order to be healthy people.” Some also suggested adding more culturally diverse foods to the school lunch menu, noting a lack of diversity in the current menu. Another common concern was the lack of time for students to socialize, eat, and use restrooms during lunch break. Parents and students noted that there are long bathroom lines, long lunch lines, and club meetings that take up a lot of time during this break.
- AP and Honors Classes
Many schools across the district have been cutting back on honors course offerings. While this has not been as much of a problem for Leigh (e.g. Chem Honors will still be offered), many students expressed annoyance with the inability to receive the classes they want. Popular classes, such as AP Biology and AP Psychology are mostly limited to seniors due to over enrollment. One parent argued that, “If equity is a priority, all students should have equal access to classes. This applies to AP, honors, grade level and electives.” The idea of college admissions also came up repeatedly, with parents stating that AP and honors help students “get into good colleges.”
- Mental Health
This was one of the most persistent topics in the survey, especially with the founding of the new Wellness Center. One of the most popular comments suggested that the Wellness Center have more operating hours, particularly during lunch. The remainder of the ideas emphasized mental health in a more general fashion, noting that “a lot of kids deal with mental health struggles.” Parents cited the pandemic as a source of these problems, reiterating that “anxiety, depression, and anger [seem] to [have] escalated after the school closures.”
Many other ideas were conveyed through this survey. If you are interested in seeing the raw data, please go to THIS link.
The Eleight 
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