SJUSD Holds Press Conference About Safe School Environments
San Jose Unified School District lights went out! (Jesse Ruiz/Lion Tales)
As President Trump is entering office, many students, parents, and community members are living in fear of potential harassment, discrimination, and deportation.
On Wednesday, January 18, a press conference about Safe School Zones occurred at the San Jose Unified School District’s Board Room during 4:00pm. School board members from SJUSD got together with teachers, parents, and community members to speak about safe school zones.
They stated SJUSD must create safe school environments for students, parents, faculty, those who are undocumented, Muslim, and LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, and Queer). Without a school safe environment students aren’t able to concentrate in classrooms, thus affecting their learning.
Minutes after arriving at San Jose Unified District’s Board Room, the whole building went dark. The lights came back on, then went out again. As the lights were out, administrators from the district were trying to figure out the problem. The building’s power source wasn’t functioning, the only other way to resume the press conference was to do it outside, in front of the entrance to the building.
It was cold and windy, making it hard for the speakers to be heard. Teachers, parents, and students all spoke providing their own opinion on safe school zones. Signs were held in the background for each speaker.
Overall, many had lots to say, making the conference successful.
When asked if she considered Lincoln a safe school environment, Claudia Azalde, a junior at Lincoln who spoke at the conference said, ” I say for the most part yes, like all the officials and administrators are pretty supportive of us…Also, students are pretty accepting.”
Chally Gojolo, a junior at Lincoln who also spoke at the conference, said, “I agree…that [Lincoln is a safe school environment] because our teachers kindly helped us organize the walkout and that really helped us out.”
Andrew Christian, an English teacher at Lincoln and High School Director for SJTA said, “One thing that we are doing is making sure that there’s an open line of communication with teachers and administrators for students who feel harassed or bullied in any way that they’re going to be supported and that they’re going to take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Below are videos from the press conference:
SJUSD Press Release from Lincoln LionTales on Vimeo.
SJUSD Press Release from Lincoln LionTales on Vimeo.
Jesse Ruiz was born and raised in San Jose, California. He is a Senior at Lincoln High School. He likes listening to music and playing sports. This is...
