News

By Quincy Fulton

Strikes, skipped paychecks, overnight protests, and calls to action were the result of SFUSD’s implementation of a disastrous paycheck system in 2022. With the switch to this year’s system, teachers desire a more straight-forward approach to their wages. For some, those needs still haven’t been met.

Three years ago, the $34 million EMPowerSF system was notoriously unreliable, largely-protested, and full of errors. Thousands of dollars were ‘lost’ or voided in the transition to it, and throughout its multi-year span it hardly ever seemed to run smoother. The structure was a buggy-programming catastrophe which resulted in incomplete or even missing pay stubs for hundreds of teachers. Benefits, salary, and insurance were all affected.

SFUSD staff had to unnecessarily and manually clock in and out their hours and pore over their checks for errors.

Recalling her management of the infuriating system, Eliza Russo, Abraham Lincoln English teacher and head of the English department, notes, “It left a lot to be desired. It didn’t feel so much like a system as it felt like another thing on our to-do lists.” 

Russo remembers that she wasn’t told by the district about errors regarding deferred net pay—chunks taken out of checks to pay teachers during summer—she was told by her union. 

These faults of the system, and the people in charge of it, were ruinous for SFUSD’s reputation, with scores of teachers leaving the district simply to find jobs that paid them.

At the beginning of the 2025 school year, the San Francisco Unified School District unveiled the new Frontline and Red Rover systems, spending at least $10 million in the implementation of the new department to oversee them. These systems and departments covered the same ground as EMPower did, but were meant to focus more on staff needs and complaints, as well as streamlining the process of leave and payment. They were meant to fix the mistakes that EMPower made and make the changes necessary to satisfy teachers.

There are optimistic differences; Frontline and Red Rover are tried and tested throughout California—whereas EMPower was partially built for SFUSD—and the district already boasts a 97 percent payment accuracy rate with the new systems. 

However, some issues are beginning to emerge, and some complaints are being issued; the Teacher’s Union has filed a state labor complaint, and even some Lincoln teachers are reporting missing thousands from their pay stubs.

Antonio Esparza, an ALHS Spanish teacher, details his recent issues with unpaid prep time: “I had to go to the district payroll office five different times, and several of those times they told me ‘Oh, [your money] will be ready next time you show up,’ [yet] it took them three weeks to get part of my missing pay on one check, and then to put my remainder of missing pay on [next month’s] check… in total my missing pay was around  $3,500.” 

Esparza notes that in all of the five districts he has taught at, San Francisco is the only one he has had any sort of pay issue in; even before EMPower was implemented, and now, even after the hopeful Frontline and Red Rover software systems were.

“In my five years [teaching at SFUSD], I’ve counted 17 different times that my pay was either inaccurate or not paid on time,” Esparza critiques.

Inaccuracies in salary, whether it be underpayment, overpayment, or no payment at all are exactly what incited the staff protests during the era of EMPower. Now, even with trusted software and commitments to compensation, checks are being blundered. Staff are still inconvenienced and teachers still don’t have the reassurance to trust their payroll fully, and whether they ever will remains to be seen. Amidst countless other pitfalls committed by district administration, resolving around contracts, support, workload, turnover, and pay, these errors seem to just add to the list of discrepancies between what teachers need and what they’re receiving.

By Anya Golden

On October 24th, ten Lincoln Youth Vs. Apocalypse club members walked out of third period in support of the Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act, a statewide climate bill that would make fossil fuel companies—coal, crude oil, and fuel gases—pay for their environmental damage. The walkout was a part of a campaign called the "Youth Walkout Polluters Pay," started by a coalition of California youth climate activists. 

The goal of the bill is to collect a tax from big environmental polluters to fund initiatives for improving climate conditions and projects, but it will not regulate any company emissions like past climate initiatives. The California Environmental Protection Agency would be directed to complete a climate cost study in order to quantify total damages to California caused by fossil fuel emissions in order to identify responsible parties and assess compensation. Fees will be proportional to companies’ fossil fuel emissions from 1990 through 2024. Money collected will fund projects and programs to “mitigate, remedy, or prevent climate change costs and harms,” according to a flier created by California Senator Caroline Menjivar and Assembly member Dawn Addis, who introduced core legislation for the bill. 

According to the United States Congress, out of the $100 billion dollars planned to be collected from fossil fuel companies, at least 40 percent of the funds will be used to benefit communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution. 

The other 60 percent collected is fairly flexible. The United States Congress website says that it will be used for initiatives for critical climate solutions such as investments in clean energy transition and environmental restoration.

Two weeks before the walkout, Lincoln YVA Vice President Russell Deiner signed up the club to participate. After attending a Bay Area organization meeting for the campaign, he and Vincent Lee-Imhof volunteered to be speakers for the walkout, with Dalton Brown and Riley Huang as MCs. 

Once Lincoln's YVA walked out of school, they took the 45 minute journey to Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza—the central public plaza for Oakland located in front of City Hall—to accompany local schools in chants, speeches, and all around support for the bill. 

Accompanying the youth speakers were two Hip-Hop artists and one resident from the local area who led a sing-along. 

“I am compelled [to fight for our climate] because it is our futures, and it is important that the people causing the issues are held accountable and that it doesn’t fall on other people. And, plus, I find it kind of fun,” said Deiner while reflecting on his commitment to environmental justice. 

In the days following the statewide walkout, the The Elected Officials to Protect America Code Blue campaign announced that Berkeley, along with ten other city councils, formally endorsed the bill. 

“What we did absolutely had an impact because around two weeks later, on November 5th, the Oakland City Council passed a resolution in support of Polluters Pay Climate Superfund, and they listed our walkout as part of the reason,” said Brown, one of the MCs. 

As of November 17th, the bill must still be passed by the Senate and Governor in order for it to go into effect.

By Abigail Park

On June 30th, 2025, San Francisco Unified School District teachers’ work contracts expired, leading to new requests to better support both the district teachers and students. 

According to the United Educators of San Francisco President, Cassondra Curiel, the UESF demands for over 6000 SFUSD teachers, paraeducators, and substitutes work contracts include improving special education programs, teacher and paraeducator workload, dependent and healthcare coverage, competitive wages, sanctuary schools, and housing and shelter for homeless families. On the other hand, SFUSD has been insistent on continuing stable staffing and budgeting.

After ongoing mediation from the state of California to oversee negotiations, the district offered a 2% pay raise, which was quickly struck down by UESF. This resulted in the October 14th, 2025 and November 12th, 2025 UESF practice pickets. 

Despite continuous mediation, practice pickets across 133 school sites, and the upcoming fact checking process, SFUSD continued to refuse further negotiations, and UESF has begun to prepare, with a scheduled authorization vote for December 3rd, 2025, for a possible strike.

“We agree with you in spirit and share your values but will not put it in the contract…” Curiel recaps the districts’ claims from recent meetings. She responds, “But we [UESF] would be open to negotiating around our shared values.” 

Even before the work contracts expired, as mentioned in “Payday Loans and Pumpkin Patches, A History of Fiscal Management in SFUSD” 2023 research by UESF, Curiel explains that there has been “trackable behavior patterns of exaggeration and untruthful expenses” which SFUSD uses to justify refusal to meet UESF’s demands. 

Although SFUSD claims they do not have enough funds for everyone’s demands, the report describes how SFUSD exercises “unnecessary borrowing practices, avoiding bloated central office spending, generating new revenue from existing assets and heeding warning signs before contracting with expensive consultants,” resulting in an ongoing district-wide financial predicament.

“We know the district has a budgeting crisis, but they have to do things differently; things need to change,” Curiel states.

Since the end of their contract, frustrations have been building. Teachers are concerned that their worries fighting for improved contracts could bleed into their attention to work. Such worries include caretaking for themselves and their dependents while offering student support.

“The bargaining stuff is a second unpaid job,” says Charles Lin, Lincoln Ethnic Studies and AP United States History teacher, Union Building Community member, and UESF Bargaining Team member. “I'm taking time out of my day to take on meetings with the union and the district itself to help out the schools. I’m paying attention to these negotiations instead of being at home, resting, taking care of my own business. [UESF is] covering for me, but it's still a lot of work I have to do. [Lincoln students] ask ‘Where were you’ and ‘We didn't do this and that,’ it's exhausting.”

Even some Lincoln students are concerned for their teachers, who are working especially hard to improve each student’s education despite the drawn out negotiation process.

“It sucks that they're not getting the contract they want because I feel like my teachers especially go above and beyond in what they have to do,” says Kevin Hu, Lincoln senior. 

“Ms. Espinoza [Algebra 1 and AP Calculus AB teacher] and Mr. Marestaing [AP United States History and AP United States Government and Politics teacher], for example: their classrooms are often open during lunch or after school if students have questions on homework or want to retake a test.” 

The goal of UESF and their members is ultimately to assert all focus on students’ learning, safety, and welfare. If SFUSD remains adamant on district terms, UESF is actively taking new steps to reach this goal by preparing for the possible strike to be authorized on December 3, 2025.

“The motivation for doing this work […] is to fight to make the schools to be the way you believe it should be […] We have a lot on the line […] The many, many students that come through our classroom doors each day is one of the many reasons why we fight so hard in our contract,” Curiel states.

By Xavier Malizia

Abraham Lincoln High School is home to dozens of sports, clubs, and teams, with few more notable than the Lincoln Dragonboat team. The team has been a part of ALHSfor over two decades, even winning the world championships in Hungary in 2018. The team currently has over 20 athletes, all of whom have created a dedicated and strong atmosphere around the sport.

In August of this year, however, SFUSD created a new code that poses limitations on non-district sponsored sports such as Dragonboat. These sports, commonly referred to as club sports, don't have the same insurance and liability as California Interscholastic Federation sports, like baseball or football. The new policy was instated once the district became aware that teams have been practicing on SFUSD property without following the regulations and protocols set by the district.

The policy was sent via email to all principals across the district from SFUSD’s Compliance and Risk Manager, Jamie C. Parkin. 

“Each school site must notify any non-league/club sport teams that are using school property that such use will immediately cease until the following protocols are completed and approved,” wrote Parkin. 

The protocols include permits and when school staff can coach, among other things.

“[The club sports] don't have access to our personal trainers, or facilities, or things like that,” explained Marisol Arkin, principal of ALHS.

Club sports also cannot use the Lincoln name, mascot, or colors. This poses an issue for the athletes, who have built a footing with the team and now face uncertainty on the road ahead. Senior Justin Zeng joined the team in his freshman year as a way to build community. He said that Dragonboat was the first club he joined at ALHS, building a foundation for his four years at the school.

This fall, Lincoln Dragonboat won the 2025 Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival for the first time in two years, defeating other public schools like Lowell and Galileo. SFUSD’s new policy came right after the successful campaign, forcing the Dragonboat team to scramble for a way to continue practicing. 

“We’re planning to, like, distribute our workout machines to homes around the city,” explained Zeng.

This is a way for the team to keep up with their workouts, at least temporarily, while the legal issues between the district and schools are sorted out.

Currently, the Dragonboat team is working to obtain an SFUSD facilities use permit from the district that would allow them to practice on campus once again, but the process is certainly slowing down the team. 

Zeng also stated that some issues came before the SFUSD policy was enforced, with the new ALHS administration enforcing strict rules about when the team could practice on campus. They were required to have an adult supervising them while they used their rowing machines, despite practicing independently for years.

Despite the issues, the hardworking team is still keeping their spirits high, hoping to continue their recent success.

“[Our spirit] hasn’t wavered at all,” ensured Zeng, reflecting on how the team is focused on the future, despite the roadblocks placed from the new district policy.

This issue is not limited to just Dragonboat, with other club sports like lacrosse struggling to see a clear future. The district, schools, and parents are exploring possibilities, such as competing in the Oakland School District as a way for students to keep competing in athletics, despite the new policy.

“[Moving the lacrosse team to Oakland is] what the families and the kids want to do, because they really want to play,” said Arkin.

The new district policy, aimed at making club athletics safer, is one of many new changes affecting Lincoln. 

By Ariana Lopez

The new school year brought a new administration. As they get to know the school, the school community gets to know them as well. As Lincoln welcomes the new administration, members of the admin team share their influences on becoming an educator and their thoughts about Lincoln as a community. Assistant principal Joey Eckstrom has been an educator for 15 years, and this is his ninth year as an assistant principal. Eckstrom mentioned that he didn't always want to become an educator. 

“I did not go to college to become an educator. I decided to become an educator during my last year of college.” Eckstrom said. “I think we live in a democracy and democracy only works if voters are informed and participate.” Eckstrom wanted to teach history at first. His U.S. history teacher, English teacher, and calculus teacher inspired him to pursue education. Eckstrom's first impression of Lincoln was seeing how big our campus is, Eckstrom stated, “I like that it is a big campus. I appreciate how students are involved on campus”. 

He also noted, “I worked at smaller schools so having or working with a bigger administration was important. I also appreciate the rich history of Lincoln.” 

Eckstrom cites Lincoln's alumni car show as an example of how much alumni care for the school and for current students in our community. He notes our school is full of student leaders and advocates. 

Assistant principal Laura Rashidi has been an educator for nine years, and an assistant principal for three years. Rashidi previously was a special education teacher at Burton High School. She received a call asking if she wanted to work at Lincoln while being on maternity leave. She said she chose to work at this school because of work life balance and the fact that she just had a baby. Rashidi mentioned the importance of leadership, decision making, and authenticity as factors that she has learned about herself in her career as an educator. 

“ I learned that what is most important is to be authentic, and as a leader sometimes I have to make hard decisions. I can't make everyone happy. I have to make decisions that are best for students. People expect you to act a certain way. but really it is more important to be yourself,” stated Rashidi. She has always been told that she should be a teacher because of her patience and altruism. Rashidi’s inspiration as an educator was her high school art teacher. Her art teacher was her support when her father passed away in high school. She would let Rashidi stay in the teacher's classroom for any kind of support. Rashidi took on the role as an assistant principal after her former principal offered her the job. “I had a big social emotional focus as a teacher and then I became a department sharer. I worked very hard with my department in addressing issues like why are we failing students? What can we do to improve things?”

 Rashidi has addressed these issues by being part of a culture climate group, a team with students, teachers, support staff, parents at Burton High school. Later on she formed a smaller team with staff. She and other staff did empathy interviews with students who were struggling academically to figure out what was going on, where the school could intervene and partner up with families. These interviews led to the team deciding that they needed to have a case management program. The case management program started last year at Burton. The program works with students who are struggling in school by building a relationship with them and keeping track of their academic progress.

 Rashidi’s first impression of Lincoln was that it is a big school and, in general, students are ready to learn, It has a lot of activities. Rashidi stated, ¨I see a thriving community. You know, there is so much that people can invest in here other than academics, and I think that is really special.¨ 

Rashidi mentioned that working here is an opportunity for personal growth, something that is really important for her in her career as an educator. Rashidi also mentioned how“Lincoln has a really thriving academic environment.” 

The school has a lot of offerings like AP,Honors, and art courses. Lincoln offers a lot of activities like sports in things that students can be involved in. What Lincoln has to work on as a community is how they are supporting students that maybe aren't doing well academically here. 

Photo by Phoebe Siegel 

In 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 101, requiring that all California public high school students take at least a semester-long Ethnic Studies course in order to graduate, beginning with the class of 2030. 

SFUSD was a step ahead of AB 101, as Ethnic Studies has been offered, through a pilot program at five high schools, since 2010. In the 2015-2016 school year, Ethnic Studies began to be offered at all SFUSD high schools, but was not required for graduation until the class of 2028. Right before the 2025-2026 school year, though, SFUSD switched their current curriculum to one used by other school districts, a decision some alleged was made in order to comply with complaints from parents. Still, the class has remained a graduation requirement, according to an SFUSD article from July 30th of this year. 

Over this past summer, however, Lincoln Ethnic Studies teacher Charles Lin claims that “SFUSD tried to cancel ethnic studies. [It] caught everyone by surprise.” 

Though Ethnic Studies was never actually canceled as a class, Lin still believes the subject is under scrutiny. 

“I think right now, what’s happening is, the Ethnic Studies program is getting audited,” he says.

What Lin was referring to is the close reevaluation of SFUSD's old curriculum that is still ongoing. But at Lincoln, at least, Ethnic Studies has stuck around.

 Lin’s classroom is full of mostly freshmen, including Ingrid Lee, who says she was placed into the class automatically. Despite her automatic placement, Lee has enjoyed the class, and feels what she learns there will benefit her in later social studies classes. 

“I think it would [be helpful], because people say history is written by the victor, but you don’t really see the other side of things,” Lee says. 

Ethnic Studies has helped Lee to see that other side. Lin also emphasizes the similarities Ethnic Studies has to more commonplace history classes. 

“How I see Ethnic Studies as a class, I see it as another social studies and history class. So I’ve been teaching it very much as, ‘Let’s talk about the past; how do people use power?’ How do people challenge those things, and the various ways that people’s lives have been impacted in America,” Lin says.

Some students, like Lee, have never taken an Ethnic Studies class before, but others have already done so in middle school. Still, Lee says that Ethnic Studies is similar to social studies classes she took in earlier years.

“I think they just maybe did the same curriculum, but just didn’t change the name,” she says.

Ethnic Studies and the nuances that surround it involve more than the class at Lincoln. Ruben Diaz, the vice president of the Second District PTA, or SFUSD’s district wide PTA, had been impressed with the material his son was learning in his Ethnic Studies class at school. 

“The information was in agreement with what I learned in high school, college and as an adult,” he says. Diaz also pointed out the fact that when surveyed, students and staff consistently rated Ethnic Studies highly. Despite high ratings, many groups still had issues with the curriculum, and the Board of Education eventually held hearings on Ethnic Studies at SFUSD.  Diaz specifically cited the Friends of Lowell as one of the groups that spoke out against the material, and prompted SFUSD to change their curriculum. Diaz felt that the points made at the Board of Education hearings were insufficient in discussing the entirety of Ethnic Studies in SFUSD as a whole.

“At the Board of Education meetings, many of the people not happy with Ethnic Studies made remarks stating they were not against Ethnic Studies, but they spent their speaking time on what they oppose, instead of trying to understand why students rate this class highly and why this class has been taught for decades. I believe the Ethnic Studies curriculum that was used last year 2024-2025 is of high quality and taught important concepts in power and identity.  I am saddened by the removal of this content in 2025-2026,” states Diaz. 

Diaz also felt that the switch to a new curriculum and the publishing of the new Ethnic Studies textbook Voices left things out from previous years, saying, “I reviewed the [new] Voices textbook prior to the beginning of this school year.  It is a general overview of Ethnic Studies and is of good quality; yet, compared to the previous year’s Ethnic Studies material, I found that it didn’t cover Ethnic Studies in depth.”

Parents seemed to be at the forefront of opposition to Ethnic Studies, taking issue with it being made a full year long class instead of it staying as just a single-semester class, as they worried it would limit students’ ability to take more advanced courses. 

To Diaz, this signaled “...that Ethnic Studies are not valued as a year long course.”

Other parents worried that their students were being taught what to think instead of just being taught content, as would normally happen in a more traditional history class. Still, Diaz emphasized that that is not what the goal of Ethnic Studies is. 

“I don’t believe that is what is being taught in Ethnic Studies. Ethnic Studies is important because it faces difficult topics of power structures and past and current injustices upon people of color. The class helps students learn and discuss these issues,” he says. 

Lincoln’s social studies department, which Ethnic Studies is a part of, has managed to avoid most of the controversy that has arisen surrounding the course. Daniel Ruelas, Lincoln’s social studies department head, says that most of the questions he gets from parents about Ethnic Studies are about what the course actually entails. 

Ruelas answers them by saying, “Ethnic studies is the study of typically underrepresented communities in American history, and how those communities have been impacted and impact the United States. Interwoven into that are the ideas of culture, and identity, and how people occupy and are perceived in a place.”

Issues within modern day society have proven to be challenging and controversial to discuss such as politics, racial injustice and economic imbalances. For Lincoln High School's debate team however, this has not been the case, as they spend each week building compelling arguments around different issues listed above. This year the debate team is the largest it has ever been in Lincoln’s history. 

AP World History and AP psychology teacher, Brendan Furey, utilizes his classroom as the hub for the debate team every Monday during lunch and Thursday after school. Despite his sponsorship of the club, he merely is the supervisor of this student-run foundation. 

“In the past I’ve had clubs which I have led and organized, but [debate club] is the opposite of that,” says Furey. “All I do is submit the paperwork, and cheer them on”. 

Current juniors, Zuleyma Sarceno Bravo and Carson Lofti, run this club independently and entirely without a coach. Having both joined their freshman year, Sarceno Bravo and Lofti have had plenty of experience with parliamentary debate, a fast paced legislative session. Every lunch, these captains walk around encouraging, supporting and helping members reach their fullest potential on and off the stage.

According to novice debater Camille Chew, these two captains provide advice, directions and guidance when preparing for a debate round. They help guide team members towards finding the answers when it comes to questions regarding topics they argue. Varsity members like Sarceno-Bravo and Lofti help novice members like Chew during tournaments as well. 

The amount of debaters from last year compared to this year may seem small to some but are mighty in the eyes of the debate team. One goal emphasized by both Sarceno Bravo and Lofti was an increase in club members and the turnout for their most recent tournament exceeded their expectations. 

“I know that we could easily measure [success] in terms of trophies won or awards and medals. But I think to me, success is seeing the numbers go up.” says Sarceno Bravo, “It was so successful to see us go from 4 members to 13 of them.” 

Though having conquered higher numbers and successes, this team has faced challenges with funding for their tournaments and establishment of their team. Registration fees for tournaments cost more than simply entering debaters according to Sarceno Bravo. With competition from schools that have larger teams and funding, Lincoln is disadvantaged. Committing to a team as much as Lofti and Sarceno-Bravo do is time consuming and challenging whilst juggling homework and outside of school activities. 

According to Sarceno-Bravo, attending a weekend out-of-town competition can be difficult compared to attending a lunchtime club meeting. The problem is not necessarily recruitment but commitment for tournaments and competitions.

However, despite setbacks the debate team faces when it comes to finances and fundraising, this team has support from outside sources, most notably Lowell's team. Lowell may have more members yet they show support for members from Lincoln. Their coach, Terry Abad, has shown countless support for the team by opening up Lowell's afterschool practices for Lincoln debaters.

Lincoln’s debaters also hold a positive outlook of the future.

Lotfi looks forward to having more debaters on the team, stating, “Maybe after this year we can have more [debaters] in leadership [positions].”

By Ella Lal

In the past few weeks, many students who regularly get lunch from the school cafeteria noticed that the cafeteria has been exclusively serving prepackaged food. The switch over to prepackaged food has led to students speculating that the cafeteria was infested with rats and that they were forced to switch over to prepackaged food. While these rumors were just speculation and not the whole truth, it didn’t stop people from spreading the rumor anyways.

Ivan Tan, a Lincoln senior explains, “I think they like found rats in the food or something, and they had to switch over instead of having it like out in the open and stuff.”

It’s unclear where exactly the rumors stem from as everybody claims they heard it from a friend.

According to Ana Briseño, another Lincoln senior, “I heard about it from my friend who had mentioned it, and I didn’t really believe it at the start [of the rumors], but then I also ended up hearing it from teachers as they were speaking amongst each other.” 

While these rumors may be based on the truth, they are greatly exaggerated. According to Ismeta Velic, a cafeteria helper, the health inspector did come to school and found a rat in the storage area, but not in the cafeteria where the food is actually prepared. 

“We had a health inspection and they found one rat but it was not in the kitchen, it was all the way in the back and our office immediately stopped doing cooking, they switched over to ‘Revolution Foods’.” 

Students may recognize that the ‘Revolution Foods’ is the name printed on the packaging of the food they have been receiving as of late. A common complaint that students have is that the portions of the prepackaged food is too small. 

Tan states, “Ever since they’ve started giving us packaged food like the portions have gotten significantly decreased, you know? [...]Yesterday they just gave us like five snacks and they just like put them in a tray. It was kinda tragic.” 

These students will be happy to know that the switch to pre-packaged food is only temporary, and on December 8th the cafeteria should begin to serve its regularly prepared food. 

By Angela Gin

In October, Lincoln said goodbye to one of its longest standing student-run stores, the JROTC store, due to state code violations. It has sold snacks and drinks like soda, instant noodles, and chips for six years. However it conflicted with the state policy that food could not be sold on campus during times when the cafeteria was operating. This includes passing periods, before school, after school, and lunch.

But the JROTC department decided to try creating an appeal to reopen the store.

The appeal is completely student-run and highlights the argument that reopening the store benefits the community. In their argument, they state, “By removing the store, vital aspects were stripped from a multitude of communities: the program, students, sports teams, coaches and teachers. The JROTC store is fundamental to promoting welfare for all Lincoln students and continues to build upon its community.” 

In addition to this, student signatures from all grades are being collected to show student support for this. They have no specific demands of the administration; they just hope to show the administration the student support for the store and come to a compromise.

“Even though it is a state policy, it was very sudden to us. We have a lot of food left in stock. We want to negotiate with admin if there’s any way we can come to an agreement so that we can continue fundraising,” says JROTC Battalion Commander, senior, Abigail Park.

Since the JROTC store’s untimely shutdown, the department has been scrambling to get sufficient funding. 

Most of their funds go towards class curriculum, uniforms for students, and food and transportation for parades. 

In recent years, the department has experienced a boom in students. 

“There used to be around 100 [students] in my freshman year; now it’s 236,” Park says .

Amidst struggles to provide the necessary materials and equipment for their classes, the department is now unable to provide food for their monthly after-school battalion reviews.

While some of their funds come from the SFUSD Brigade, who receive that money through government-appropriated funds. From there it is distributed to battalions and school branches across the school district. Typically these funds are reserved for transportation to district events like parades and competitions. 

However when the government shutdown happened in October, Brigade did not receive any funds because they were not a priority department. They attempted to have their own fundraiser but were unsuccessful, according to Park. 

Park says, “Since we’re a high school program, we’re the least priority.”

While the department has attempted to use other fundraising strategies, like starting a GoFundMe, the amount of money received isn’t sufficient.  

The department plans to submit their appeal to the administration by the end of the semester.