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February 2018 – Page 2 – The Prospector

Month: February 2018

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Campus’s All-Gender Restrooms Aren’t Accessible Enough, says McClatchy’s QSA

Many students may have noticed the all-gender restroom signs on various single-stall staff bathrooms around McClatchy. This is due to Assembly Bill 1732, passed in 2016,  which requires that all single-stall bathrooms in public areas be designated as all-gender. McClatchy technically meets these requirements, but the Queer Straight Alliance doesn’t think they’re accessible enough to be useful for students.

 

As of now, there is one all-gender bathroom in the Student Support Center on campus, and all single-stall staff bathrooms are technically designated all-gender.

 

According to Assistant Principal Pease, who ran the Student Support Center for two years before becoming Assistant Principal, any student who wishes to use the all-gender bathroom in the Student Support Center may simply go into the Student Support Center ask to be directed towards the all-gender bathroom. The bathroom requires no key. “Just go in the support center and say ‘I need to use the restroom’” said Assistant Principal Pease.

 

As far as staff bathrooms go, students have to find someone who will unlock the door for them, whether that be a teacher, hall monitor, or any other adult with a key, ultimately making it less accessible to students.

 

However, McClatchy’s Queer Straight Alliance, which has been fighting for accessible all-gender bathrooms for years now, isn’t satisfied yet.

 

“The staff bathroom isn’t accessible to kids, only like a third of the teachers allow students to use it” said QSA Vice President Maya Steinhart (‘19).

 

Steinhart also mentioned that all-gender bathrooms can’t be useful for students if they don’t know about them, telling the administration to “let people know they exist.”

 

Steinhart has reason to be concerned about student awareness, considering that Assistant Principal Pease said that in her two years running the Student Support Center, there were only a couple instances in which a student asked to use the all-gender bathroom.

 

QSA President Leeza Wong (‘18) attributed this to the fact that students have to ask an adult in order to use the restroom, because that can make it a less comfortable and convenient experience for students.

 

As far as improvements go, “Just make them more accessible,” said Wong. “That’s the whole point, so the endless bureaucracy doesn’t help anyone.”

 

QSA made it clear that until McClatchy has a sufficient number of accessible, all-gender bathrooms, they won’t feel as if the administration is doing everything they can to ensure the comfort and safety of students.

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What Happened to the Strike?

Ever since October 11, 2016 the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA), has been bargaining with the Sacramento City Unified School District to make the schools better for students by reducing class sizes, adding arts programs, and increasing teacher pay.

No matter how hard the SCTA tried, the district has rejected every single one of their proposals, blaming the rejection on “budget priorities”.

Fast forward to November 2, 2017, when over 3,000 teachers rallied outside the Serna Center. They chanted, help up signs, and gave speeches, all while the Superintendent was meeting with the SCUSD board members in the building right behind them.

Around 4 PM that day, it was announced that the teachers were ready to strike, if necessary, on November 8.

As most people remember, there was no strike on November 8, 2017. Why?

Well, the day before the supposed strike, November 7, 2017, a tentative agreement was reached between the SCTA and SCUSD to avert the strike, with the help of Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

The main issue addressed in the tentative agreement was teacher pay raises. Teachers will receive up to an 11% pay raise over the next 3 years, with all teachers guaranteed a 2.5% pay raise retroactive July 1 2016, another 2.5% retroactive July 2017, and another 2.5% increase July 2018. SCTA representatives say the raises will help Sac City become competitive with the Elk Grove and San Juan districts in attracting and retaining talented teachers.

Reducing class sizes in elementary schools were also addressed by the agreement. Grades 1-3 will not have more than 28 students in a class. Grades 4-6 will not have more than 33 students in a class.

“We believe this tentative agreement will help move us in the direction necessary to ensure each and every one of our students has a qualified educator in every classroom, resources they need, and programs that will ensure their success,” said David Fisher, president of the SCTA.

Exactly a month later, SCTA members voted by a 98.1% majority to approve the contract agreements made between the SCTA and the SCUSD. The overall vote was 1557 yes and 30 no.

In 2020, the SCTA and the district, with the help of Mayor Steinberg, plan to craft a measure that will go on the 2020 ballot to ensure that new funds supplement existing dollars for arts, music, and sports programs.

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McClatchy to Receive Free Menstrual Products

Free menstrual products could soon be coming to school bathrooms all throughout the state of California after Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 10 in October.  As of January 1, the law requires free pads and tampons to be provided in middle and high schools where at least 40% of students are at or below the federal poverty line.

 

McClatchy High is one of the schools that qualifies. Its status as a Title I school means that at least 40% of the population is at or under the poverty line. In this case, 40.1% of students receive free or reduced lunch.

 

“We are working with the facilities department, which is currently in the process of getting everything up-to-date with the district,” says Principal Peter Lambert.

 

The law requires that at least half of the bathrooms at McClatchy be stocked with free menstrual products.

 

Says senior and president of McClatchy’s Feminist-Coalition, Anna Murray, having free tampons “would mean students don’t have to miss school or make their own, mostly ineffective, materials … it would also show that McClatchy values its students’ health and well-being to deal with something that half of the school must go through.”

 

Lambert is aware of a “timeline” to implement the policy, though he gave no specific date on when it would go into effect at the school. The district “has to bring every school up-to-date,” he explained, adding, “they are working currently to do this.

 

In the meanwhile, there are free menstrual products available for use in the Student Support Center. Iyuanna Pease, who worked in the center for a number of years, says the menstrual products offered there are taken advantage of by students as often as  “one or two times a day”.

 

Putting products in bathrooms in addition to the Student Support Center would “increase convenience for students,” says Murray.

 

This law is not the first of its kind — Illinois has passed a law similar to this in which free menstrual products were made available to all schools grades 6 through 12. A similar project also took place in New York City, where products were made free in 25 middle and high schools.