On Friday, March 13th, the students of the Chaffey district walked onto the school campus for the last time in almost a year. What was supposed to be an extra week of spring break was extended into a many month long quarantine. With record rates of failing, the students of CJUHSD plead that you stop hearing us, and start listening to us. 

Since the start of online school, we cannot deny that there has been significant helpful change in the way schools have been teaching online, however; the system has since then started to plateau and even drop in rates of success. Why is this? Because students are struggling to navigate. Not only have we had to keep up with this self-learning method, but also battle with our own challenges in different aspects of our lives, a major one being mental health. Despite the constant reporting and ranting to the school administration that is supposed to provide help, we have been met with yet another obstacle. The school has failed to listen to the pleas of the students.

This petition was created by students from the Chaffey District in hopes that schools will finally stop and actually listen to us. Communication is at an all time low. Take our concerns and address them immediately if possible. If a report is made or a student is in need of assistance, make it so that help is easily accessible. The lack of counselor support in things such as scholarship opportunities and aid must be brought to the forefront.  We ask that mental health, physical health, and other variables are all handled with the same seriousness and care. We are willing to share our views and offer some ways to help if we were even asked. All the decisions made are rarely brought up to us, the ones who ask for help in the first place. Maybe things like a mental health check in, polls, opinions, and even just keeping up with the lives and struggles of the students. Be more flexible with testing and make up work. Have teachers assign things that are actually helpful in the end and not simply busy work. Keep in mind low income households that are struggling to hold it together and possibly offer free tutoring/extended hours during the week/ weekends for those who need it. Monitor people with disabilities, visible and invisible, and have teachers allow them some leeway. Use these as a starting goal and continue to ask us for suggestions. We hope this is taken to heart and that the school will begin to understand and become more flexible and approachable in these trying times. "Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." (George Bernard Shaw) We hope that you open your minds to our ideas; we firmly believe that with these changes, online school will become more bearable for everyone.