☆ Ensuring academic success for all students: CUHSD candidates weigh in
Campbell Union High School District board candidates Elisabeth Halliday and James Kim turn their attention to student performance within the CUHSD. Both unpack their plans to sustain increased academic achievement stats in the district, especially for students facing “opportunity gap[s].” Other CUHSD candidates have not yet replied. An Opp Now exclusive.
Opportunity Now: Talk to us about academic achievement in the CUHSD. District-wide data points to improvements within the last couple years. To what factor(s) can this be attributed? And as a board member, how will you continue to foster school environments conducive to learning?
Elisabeth Halliday: After the pandemic shut-down, a lot of focus was placed on addressing learning loss and bringing students back to benchmarks for where they should be in their learning goals. Our schools also offered summer bridge programs for incoming 9th graders, which helps prepare Freshmen for greater high school success. They created wellness centers to help students cope with stress, and they are actively building programs and staffing to address mental health. I support all of these efforts and will see that they continue. I also support having social workers on campus. Students learn best when they have mental health supports and other programs that help them stay on track, or get back on track should they encounter challenges.
James Kim: My top priority for improving the education of our students is to retain our dedicated CUHSD teachers, and to hire excellent new teachers.
I will also work to ensure that CUHSD funds are spent wisely so as to maximize student learning opportunities.
Improving the educational environment at CUHSD schools includes everything from ensuring that our HVAC systems keep classrooms comfortable during heat waves, to ensuring that our English departments have sufficient funding to purchase new books for their classrooms.
The referenced data also points out that we are not seeing equity of outcomes amongst all the racial groups in the district. Students come to school each day with different burdens and obstacles, and different outlooks on the future. It is important to recognize that students from different races and socioeconomic backgrounds face systemic barriers. As a district, our decision making must take into consideration that, on average, certain minority groups face higher rates of housing and food insecurity. We must think about how we can best support all of our students, such as those who may struggle to complete homework because they have to work to help support their families after school, and those who need help navigating the college application process as they strive to become the first in their families to pursue a university education. We must work hard to close the opportunity gap so that all of our students, no matter their backgrounds, receive the support they need to be successful in high school, and to achieve their college and career goals.
Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity
Image by Governor Tom Wolf