The LCAP is a tool for schools to set goals, express changes, and plan actions for the school to improve student experience. Although a small percentage of students were included it was not nearly enough as it should’ve been. Only 8% of Poway High students were involved in taking the LCAP. Poway High is getting a new principal next year and students have some concerns that they hope the new principal will take into consideration. 

From things to changing the late start schedule to having more hands-on courses, students have opinions that they want to be heard. 

For my first example, having early release on Wednesday instead of a late start could be helpful for students, teachers, and administrators. The late release time is hard on students with sports or other extracurriculars, all while trying to balance it with homework. When school releases at 3:35 p.m., students who go straight home normally don’t get home until about 4:00-4:30 p.m., depending on where they live. 

Getting out early, even for one day, could be a big help. Another reason is that it is harder for parents to drop off kids at a late start time is because they have to get to work, and a late start can conflict with their work time. 

Another student issue is having more supervision on campus and in the parking lots. Often in school bathrooms, there is more fighting and smoking/vaping occurring than people actually using the bathroom for its intended use. This causes a problem for students who genuinely need to use the restroom. 

In the parking lot, students are also smoking and fighting, and they drive recklessly. 

The parking lots also need a better method for the pick-up and drop-off of students. In the mornings, the traffic that mixes student drivers and parents dropping off can get hectic, and it causes students to be late for class. A more organized system would make things go smoother, and having someone or multiple people directing traffic would help. When traffic flows in all sorts of ways in the senior/staff parking lot while the other students or parents are trying to get into the overflow lot, it can cause many accidents. 

Additionally, students would like more hands-on-courses. One example of that is having a Home EC class to learn different things like how to cook, do taxes, and general life skills. Often, students who do not learn these things from their parents struggle when they go out into the real world and it would be beneficial for them to learn these things before hand. In addition to that having more world languages offered to students is something that could help our school become more diverse. Currently the only languages on the CRF is French, German, and Spanish. 

Another thing students are interested in are more option for dual enrollment. It could be very valuable to students who are looking to further their education. It will also be helpful to them in the future because when they get to college they can focus on more career based classes rather than their required ones. 

Also, it could benefit students if Poway High teachers had a better balance between lecturing and having time for in-class work. A lot of times, teachers tell their students that if they don’t finish class work, then it turns into homework. Although sometimes it can be the students’ fault that their work is not done before the class period is over, this is unfair to those who are genuinely working, especially if they will have time to finish it after school. 

A lot of teachers at the beginning of the trimester state to their class that they won’t have any homework unless they have unfinished class work. This is false advertising, considering they don’t give students enough time to complete the work in class.

Students want to be heard just as much as anyone within the school district when it comes to school issues. The things that are being voted on directly affect us, and we must have more of a say. Next time the LCAP needs to better advertised to students. Whether it’s mentioning it during morning announcements, having counselors send an email, or simply having our third period teacher put up a QR code, more students need to be involved in the LCAP.