Lack of Half-Days and Abrupt Schedule Changes Shock CCHS Students
Article by Calvin Kent 9/20/22
Changes have been made around CCHS including elimination of half-days, schedule changes, and lack of staff
August 17th was the first day of school for California City High School students. Students had class meetings, ID pictures to get done, and schedules to be fixed. Schedule changes are a common occurrence every year at high schools everywhere, but what made this year interesting is the lack of counselors to assist with the schedule changing.
Holly Temple, counseling secretary, had made schedule change forms that students would be able to fill out to have the appropriate schedule that works best for them. However, they were terminated within a week due to the shortage of staff. Some seniors who got their schedule changed within the first day or so of school were eligible for half-days. Half-days have been a staple at CCHS for years and are when seniors can have four classes plus access and leave for 5th and 6th period to go home or to work or come in late. Then overnight, schedules were changed to accommodate no half-days and to give everyone a full seven period schedule.
This was a big shock to CCHS seniors since they were previously promised half-days. With this, and the added news of teacher aides (TAs)’s being changed, a lot of students became outraged and demanded these things to be changed. Superintendent Katherine Aguirre held a meeting in the cafeteria with the 2023 Senior class to discuss these problems.
It was discussed in the meeting that due to the law, CCHS could no longer have half days and ‘there was nothing we can do about it’, however, the district office would make an exception if a senior was able to prove that (s)he had a job and had to leave between 12:30-2:30. The TA issue was set to be ‘worked out’ by next semester, but they were allowed shortly after some persuasion from teachers, specifically ones without prep periods who needed the extra help.
So what does Mrs. Notterman have to say? When asked about the reason for having no half-days, she responded by reiterating to me that, “half-days have to be work linked, so if you have a permit you can go. Students have to stay at school legally and with added classes that can offer college credit with dual enrollment, more students are choosing to stay at school anyway for those 5th and 6th periods to get college credit.” Notterman stressed the importance of being College and Career Ready as part of the Raven Way and the extra classes during the day were a way of achieving that
When asked about TA’s she responded; “TA’s are one per class for seniors. Junior year is supposed to be the hardest year and that is what makes students competitive to get into college. TA’s are going well and the seniors who are eligible to become one and have asked for being a TA have been given that opportunity.” The high school wants to focus on the challenging aspects of school that open student’s minds to the future. But, I personally wonder if this is possible due to the staff shortage here at CCHS.
With the abrupt schedule changes, in part due to staff changes, it was down to having a compiled master schedule of available classes and teachers. However, there is a possibility that seniors with half-days would have been able to mend the emergency. “We stayed until 2am working with the superintendent and the tech department, all three of us, to create a master class schedule and to balance classes between teachers for classes to be manageable.” Notterman also added that she is proud of our teachers being able to take in other classes while there is a lack of freshman class staff.
Mrs. Notterman ended by saying that the process of acquiring new teachers is “slow going” but gives hope that new staff members will be added by October. (An update to this is there have been new teachers starting since the writing of this article with more due to start in October.) There is also now a part-time counselor who started coming to CCHS two to three days a week along with Cerro Coso counselors coming on October 12 and October 22 to help seniors with applying for colleges and financial aid.
How much effect do counselors truly have on students? Well, here at CCHS students of every grade are now feeling the effect of missing counselors. The help of a counselor ranges from dealing with school ethics, to being of assistance with the mental health of a student. Without a counselor, students are suffering in different aspects of their daily lives without anyone being there to assist them. Both counselors at Cal City High left at the end of last year due to different circumstances, leaving students without the necessary help for class and graduation related needs. Students enrolling into college are not getting the necessary advice or help filling out applications they need to get them through this stressful process that helps determine their futures.
Most people wonder why the campus is so short staffed. After interviewing the staff it has become known that last year, the 2021-2022 school year, had the highest behavioral issues in a span of approximately 12 years. This led to ten teachers leaving campus due to this behavior or, in some cases, new opportunities arising for them. Disorderly behavioral issues are an important factor to why staff choose to resign. With staff in all aspects of the school body leaving, students are not only having to deal with the absence of counselors but teachers as well. These hardships students are having to deal with and have no control over fixing the issue are only adding to the stress in certain aspects of their lives. As of the writing of this article, the school environment is still not improving as much as anyone would hope in terms of adding counselors to campus to help students with classes and college issues.
The freshman class did not have an English teacher for the majority of the 1st semester. They constantly had substitutes or are put in another class. After speaking with freshmen we found out that they are filled with the feelings of uneasiness and nervousness from not having an English teacher to teach them. The absence of not having an English teacher leaves them unprepared and not ready for the next year. They have also expressed that they feel like they are falling behind and wished for a teacher. As for the seniors, not having a counselor of any sort has taken quite the toll. From having to deal with FAFSA, college applications, and class schedules all without consistent help from a counselor who knows and understands the process. Some seniors have expressed that the FAFSA process itself is already stressful and now having to add figuring it out themselves just makes the process even worse.
After what seemed to drag on forever, we are thankful to now have two new counselors joining us at CCHS. We welcome Ms. Cornell who is both the juniors and freshman counselor as well as Mr. Zavala who is both the seniors and sophomores counselor. After interviewing them both we've been able to learn more about them. Ms. Cornell is from Bakersfield, CA where she attended California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) and received both her bachelors and masters degrees. She became a counselor because she’s always been a natural helper, wants to help people succeed, and share her story with others to inspire them. Her hopes and dreams consist of wanting to help make a change and to remain funny; “I'm happy to be here” - Ms. Cornell
Mr. Z is from the Palmdale/LA area of California and he attended National University (NU) where he got his masters degree and California State University, Channel Island (CSUCI) for his bachelors degree. He became a counselor because when he was in high school all a counselor ever did was just change classes so he wanted to be a counselor who helps students with everything, including college. His hopes and dreams are to help the youth find their voice and career pathways. He’d like to let everyone know he has an open door policy whenever; he is “excited to be a Raven and hopes to see those walk on stage to graduate” - Mr. Z
These two situations are examples of what staff shortage does to students and how it affects them. Having the right amount of staff would ease these problems and not create the amount of stress it does. Unfortuneately the staff shortage is unlikely to end soon, however, on the bright side, we have added an English teacher for the freshman class as well as two academic counselors and a social emortional counselor to the staff at CCHS. Students now have access to help with classes and college applications and financial aid and the freshman are now feeling less unease at not being prepared for classes next year.
If you need help with classes or want to talk to someone, please stop by the counseling office to talk to one of our new counselors.
Saturday school is a way for students to make up missed days and get attendance credit for missing school. Currently there are said to be upcoming Saturday school dates for seniors specifically who are expected to maintain a 94% attendance rate meaning they can only miss three unexcused days of school and three tardies account to one absence. As far as it is known, along with the said Saturday school option for students to make their attendance up, students will also be allowed to attend to these Saturday school days to do credit retrieval so they have more hours available to help them make up their needed missing credits.
So far there have been no official flyers or words from staff about the first official date. If this continues as it did last semester, students should not be held to the 94% attendance rate due to the factor they were never able to make up the days that they missed. Students did not have the opportunity for it last semester and then were not held accountable to it due to the school taking fault about having no way for students to make it up. With that being said, if this continues to happen with this new whole semester with no official word or anything put into action, the school should once again take accountability and not hold the students accountable to something that's simply not possible to fix.
By: Amiere Wooten
This year we have a brand new music teacher, Mr. Melrose. When I had the opportunity to talk to him, I found out what he would like to do with the music program and where he would like to take the program.
Ideally, he wants to give more kids the opportunity to perform and grow their own individual talent by providing his time and experience interested in music. He hopes to build the music program up during the day as well as after school as well as set up field trip opportunities to participate in music competitions in and after school.
Mr. Melrose wants his music program to "partake in every school wide opportunity possible" in order to bring music to every part of the school.
Anyone who is interested in learning to play an instrument, learning to sing, or honing their musical skills is welcome to participate in the program. Go see Mr. Melrose in the band room to get more information.
Article by Calvin Kent 10/24/22
Drug use has been booming on campus, putting students and staff at risk.
By October 4th, there had already been at least three times the ambulance had been called at CCHS due to drug-related issues. Not a lot of students are aware that drug use is a big risk, not just for themselves but for everybody else as well. With the rise of fentanyl becoming more popular in the country and with more accessibility to street drugs, it is becoming more common to see drugs being bought, sold, inhaled, and consumed at schools across the country.
“Issues on campus with drugs include marijuana and vaping,” said CCHS Vice Principal Ms. Martin. I had the opportunity to sat down with her to ask about what she knows about drug use around campus and if staff knows about these situations,“...If they attend our staff meetings, we do discuss it.” She went on to inform me that there is in fact a protocol in dealing with drug use on campus, whether all staff and security know about said protocol, and if they follow it is unclear.
Martin continued to tell me about how drugs are handled when found on campus; “We partner with California City Police Department’s sergeants and officers (and) if there is probable cause [of drug possession on a student] then a search will be conducted.” This leaves open the idea about what happens if a staff member or visitor has drugs on them or if an officer finds nothing when conducting a search, and even if a search warrant is used.
“The main concern parents have is where are they [students] getting it from because it would be considered unlawful possession or use in selling drug paraphernalia. (That information) comes directly from our student handbook on page six.” Martin stated. The student handbook, on page six, says “...Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell any drug paraphernalia, as defined in Health and Safety Code 11014.5 (ed Code 48900 (g)).” A lot of students are unaware about the student handbook rules even though they were issued the handbook at the beginning of the year. Many have not taken the time to read through it."
With this information, I went around asking some students about their knowledge of drug use on campus and a majority of the responses were the same. It appeared as if almost every student knows somebody who uses drugs on campus, and more specifically, uses drugs in the bathrooms, despite the increased security on campus. One student said “I smell weed in the bathroom and smell smoke in there all the time.”
When asked about how they feel about people using drugs in the bathroom, one student responded that, “they should stop doing it because I need to use the bathroom sometimes and it stinks in there and I’m just trying to go pee.” This is another overwhelming opinion throughout my interviews of the students I talked to. “We got a big open desert, I feel like they could do it anywhere else.” A lot of people have these issues with the school bathrooms. With many people smoking and vaping in there, and with no good ventilation, it smells. “It stinks. It smells bad and then I smell like it, and then teachers ask and all of a sudden I’m the suspect,” said one student.
80% of the students I interviewed were not even aware of the process that happens when students get caught for smoking and vaping but one stated they "hope it's bad."
Does the prevalence of smoking in the bathrooms mean that staff are not properly equipped to deal with these situations? Majority of students think yes. A lack of accusations and consequences leave the students who are using drugs on campus to feel like they could do whatever they want and smoke in the bathrooms, classrooms or anywhere else on campus, and face not repercussions for their actions. I asked about people vaping in classrooms and there were a couple reports of students seeing their peers vaping and then teachers apparently watching and not doing anything. One student I spoke to even said that they saw a vape being passed around in a class without students getting in trouble.
These unprofessionally handled and unsafe matters are what is causing a decline in school culture. Some students believe that if these issues went away, then the school might be a bit healthier and safer; and maybe more fun.
But what could make these issues go away? Better handling of situations where every student knows at least some of the process that goes into dealing with drug trouble on campus, a report system and actually talking to suspects, and more security around bathrooms are just some ideas. People may have issues with security around bathrooms, but it is the overwhelming feeling of people interviewed that it is their fault for smoking drugs in there and having security around in the first place. However, in order to make this work, staff have to believe the students that are reporting to them in the first place.
Security is also another big issue, if so much is being paid to have them, why do they not have the ability to do more? I have not seen any students with drugs on them actually get stopped or questioned even when they are reported at the same time that they were handling the drugs. (Update: I have learned that the extra security does have the ability to write referrals for behavior when warranted). Is this what could be corrupting our school? When people talk about Cal City High School they think of the bad about it first; the smoking, vaping, fighting, and behavior, not any of the good things the school is good at including teachers and staff who go out of their way to make learning possible and everyone knowing each other. But what else? On top of other issues we may see, smoking is tainting our school at the very least.
If you see somebody smoking, vaping, inhaling, or consuming any drugs, please report it to staff right away. It is up to staff and the school administration to do something about the drug use, but it is not hard to tell your peers to stop. Nobody enjoys smelling smoke or weed at 7am. If you have any questions, please see Vice Principal Ms. Martin and read through the student handbook rules. If you or somebody you know is facing addiction problems, please call the California Addiction Hotline at 866-210-1303.
By Virginia Puckett
Recently the requirements for seniors to graduate has been lowered from a needed 220 credits to a total of 140 credits; the California state minimum, which removes senior English as a requirement and lots of other classes. The school is implementing this with only three more months of school in session and is trying to enforce this on all students who have been working hard to graduate. Weeks ago the school counselors were calling up lots of seniors telling them “they're going to fail and there's not much they can do to change it” and brought some of their parents into it as well, which is very harsh for a teen who's been trying their best to deal with. Now since the requirements have been lowered a majority of the students who were told they were going to fail, now have the needed credits to graduate. Overwhelming opinion of students is that it was wrong to make them deal with the empty feeling of being told they're going to fail and then just to be told "Nevermind" like its not a big deal when it should be considered one. It brings in the question that were the requirements lowered due to the fact the school didn't believe the student were able to fulfill the 220 credits based on the abilities of the school or because there needs to be an overhaul of requirements?