The Almanac of Menlo Park held an open forum for the Sequoia Union High School District (SUSHD) school board candidates to discuss topics of interest regarding the upcoming election.
The forum occurred on Thursday, Oct. 10. The meeting included area B candidates Daniel Torunian, Mary Beth Thompson, and Jacob Yuryev, while the area E candidates were Jon Bryant, Maria Cruz, and Tonga Victoria.
Thompson mentioned how schools have already removed honors or AS classes from the Sequoia Union High School District’s ninth and 10th-grade class selection; however, she is against such changes and would prevent further detracking in schools. The reason for the removals was to help mitigate the overwhelming problem of student mental health and to increase the students’ sense of belonging in schools. While student mental health has declined partially due to the pressure from parents to take AP courses, there has been a significant increase in AP enrollment and AP test scores.
“As an educator myself, I have seen students in college coming in burnt out already because they are stressed out in regards to the AP courses that they took, and now they are in college with poor mental health,” Cruz said.
The candidates were asked what their positions were, given that AP class enrollment and AP test scores have increased in the school district. Many of them said that AP courses are an excellent way for students to challenge themselves and create opportunities while also being a culprit of poor student mental health.
Another prevalent topic of discussion in the forum was how cell phones impact student’s mental health and ability to focus in class.
“I said no cell phones during instruction time, and the amount of engagement has increased in the classroom by a major margin,” Thompson said.
Yuryev and Abbie Korman both made strong claims that the school district has lost sight of the real goal, which is serving the students, but the high number of candidates for the school board has shown that more people are looking to serve that need.
“Our job as a school board and as a school district is to serve our students, parents, teachers, and community. Over the past couple of years, I sadly think we have lost touch with the day-to-day experiences of students,” Yuryev said.
According to Yuryev, the school board needs to be more in tune with the students’, parents’, teachers’, and community members’ thoughts on how the school district should run because it would bring back the primary goal of students’ and teachers’ experiences.
“I appreciate that so many people want to run for this position, that we have three in each area because I think it is a thankless job to be a school board member and a significant one,“ Korman said.
Korman said she values the community connection of candidates from area E, who are from and raised in East Palo Alto.
The candidates hope to change the past school board and look toward a better administration with the student’s opinions in mind.
The school board candidates want to increase student, community, and parent involvement, which will help the school district’s funding.
“We sit on a board of diverse voices, and so being able to contribute to the conversations with all students, all parents and educators, in mind,” Tonga said.
*This article was edited to remove an error about candidate Mary Beth Thompson’s view on detracking. The Scot Scoop staff sincerely apologizes for the error.
