On December 10, 2019, a student forum was held at C K McClatchy High School to discuss the course elimination.
The meeting was organized mainly by Gaby Arguello, a junior in HISP, and Janine Milne, a junior in LPPA. They partnered with district members Matt Turkie and Lisa Murawski to run this strictly single topic forum.
To begin the discussion, CKM Principal Peter Lambert announced that all teachers necessary to fill the places of substitute teachers were hired.
Following Lambert, the goal of the discussion was further elaborated upon. The district had plans to eliminate courses including Molecular Biology and Math 1+. Due to a shared annoyance among students regarding these plans, this assembly was organized in order for district members to hear student opinions.
Arguello and Milne shared some of the student concerns that had been relayed to them, the majority of which were about Molecular Biology. They recounted that some students had chosen CKM over other schools because of Molecular Biology, and the curriculum, created by former CKM teacher Elizabeth Coleman in collaboration with UC Davis, was made to offer more hands on experience. Students felt that the elimination of this course option was unfair for those interested in higher sciences and the pursuit of them.
The district responded, saying they want to hear students on this issue and hear their thoughts on those decisions. Turkie went through each possible eliminated course, beginning with Math 1+, which he claimed is still available.
Next, Turkie went over the decisions made about the science courses. He shared that teachers “came together” to make changes to the offered science classes, and had two choices. The first choice was to integrate earth science into three other classes, and the second was to keep the traditional courses. The committee was unable to reach a consensus, and the first choice won with a 75% majority.
Regarding Molecular Biology specifically, Turkie stated that due to the plentiful student concerns, the superintendent was going to look into the issue to make a final decision.
The district members shared their goal of equity over equality, and Murawski stated that their “goal is to make sure that students have a future ready.”
Many questions asked by the students were answered by Turkie, though Trustee Murawksi was the frontliner for the forum.
A student asked Turkie and Murawski, “If we eliminate the rigorous classes, how will eliminating that class encourage students to feel like they’re on a higher track?” As for a response, they said that it was ‘a good question and a good point.’ In addition, they said that there would still be rigorous options and allow access to them.
In regards to the new biology curriculum, a student asked if the new standards will satisfy the students and prepare them for Honors Chemistry and AP Biology. Turkie responded by saying that the new plans are still being ‘piloted,’ but will be first executed during the 2020-2021 school year.
“Change is hard, when introducing something new there will be bumps in the road,’ said Matt Turkie.
When asked about how colleges will view this, Turkie responded by saying that colleges prefer three years of lab sciences and that they don’t care if its biology or earth science.
While talking about the rigorous classes, students asked about how will other students be able to pass the integrated biology class if they aren’t even passing the regular biology classes. Turkie and Murawski responded by saying that the right teaching will allow for the student to pass. Also, he stated that he has an enormous respect for the teachers and that this what the students in the Sacramento Unified School District needs.
Students began to voice their opinion on why their voices weren’t being heard and why they aren’t taking the students into consideration, however Turkie said that he wants for more students to speak up and that there aren’t enough student voices at the school.
In addition, students voiced their opinions on ‘lower leveled students’ and how their different backgrounds will affect their abilities in these rigorous classes. Turkie and Murawski says that everything all comes down to their belief in students and their abilities to learn. However they stated that people can’t put it down to their background and their home lives, students needed access to challenging courses, and that there has to be “balance high expectations for students with support for students.”
As a wrap up question, students asked how how will their voices be heard and that the decision with Molecular Biology will not be forgotten. Turkie answered by saying that it was ‘being considered today.”
To finish, Matt Turkie said, “I thought that the student forum was really good, and what I’m impressed with is the thoughtful questions, the processing which people are doing, people are engaging in a very authentic manner and I really appreciate that. I always want to engage in an authentic manner. It’s interesting, sometimes we get things right, sometimes we get things wrong, sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, and I think all of that is fine and we should all be reflective and open to dialogue and we should all be open to listening to one another and learning from one another, and I think that much of that happened tonight, and I really appreciate the opportunity to be here.”