Anna Wilkinson

The rising number of signatures show the anger students feel about the boards decision.

145,417.

That’s how many people who no longer have a future due to COVID-19.

Students at Carlmont High School are requesting the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) board of trustees to change their minds about their ruling of Credit/No Credit grades. This may seem like an insignificant problem compared to the death toll stated above, and that’s because it is.

The student who set the petition up, junior Millicent Ku, did so in a professional and kind-hearted way by making sure it wasn’t portrayed as disrespectful. The petition asks for 1,000 SUSHD students to sign it to ask the board to reconsider their decision. Most students are fighting to change the grading system to another option, known as hold harmless. Students mention how hold harmless would benefit everyone, including those with disabilities and a dysfunctional learning environment. While that may be accurate, the board has barely elaborated on what hold harmless means and how it would realistically work.

For those who don’t know what hold harmless is, it states that the grade you received before we went into quarantine on March 15 would remain your grade, and then throughout distance learning, your class could only improve. While the students might have theories about how the grades would stay without falling, the board never specified any details about how it could work.

I have noticed that a lot of comments on why we shouldn’t have gone to Credit/No Credit was that it allows the students to slack off which isn’t fair to those who have worked hard this past semester. While I agree it does allow some to slack off, hold harmless wouldn’t be much different in that aspect. Students who have the grades they wanted before we left school, no longer need to work to keep them that way.

There are many reasons why people are against the board’s decision, but I have noticed that the main groups fighting for a change are the junior class and parents. Understandably, the junior class has a lot of pressure on them due to college applications and their GPAs getting them into the schools they want to go to. Many students are enraged because they wanted colleges to see their academic achievements, but many schools, including Duke and Harvard, have already put out a statement saying that they are accepting Credit/No Credit grades for this semester.

To add on, if you are a student who has been working hard throughout high school to maintain your grades and be at the top of your class, colleges will see that from the past semesters and years to follow.

The main thing that bugs me about all this petitioning and emailing is the disrespect some students are giving to the board and the teachers. As the daughter of a teacher, I see what they go through at home, and it consists of an excessive amount of emails from aggressive parents. You might not realize it, but the nasty email you drafted to the board or your chemistry teacher can throw off their whole week, when in reality, they are just doing their job. There is no need to hate on one another in this time where we are supposed to be joining as one to spread positivity and safety.

One comment I read mentioned how only two students were at the board meeting representing the student community, which was unfair because they didn’t speak for the entire community of students and the majority of their opinions. The people writing comments such as these are those who have the ability to thrive in an at-home learning environment. People who have parents that can pay for their food the next day, or those who don’t need help from aids at school.

Although it is hard because we are still young, students need to take a look at the bigger picture and realize what their actions are being portrayed as, and think about some other than themselves and their grades.

You are lucky to be someone who still has a future after all of this ends.