NOTE: nothing in this petition intends to be slanderous or misleading in any way, I am simply expressing my opinion on the most recent information I have. If you notice something outdated or incorrect, please email me at lizagowski@icloud.com and I will fix it. Thank you. 

Highland high school is being rebuilt, and the plans have raised many concerns among community members. The current set up of the rebuild is that each hallway will have a several “pods” branching off of it. These pods will each contain a commons area, and the commons will be surrounded by 4-6 classrooms. The classrooms will each have one fully glass wall facing into the commons area. it is also unclear if the classrooms will have windows to the outside, or just viewing into the commons which will have windows. The commons areas are designed to only be open to students in the surrounding classrooms within the pod, but you will be able to see into other classrooms within pods. This design has raised many concerns throughout the community.

The first concern is one of safety. The glass walls in the classrooms will be bulletproof, but if there is a threat in the building, the walls will cause students and teachers to have no place to hide. Also, the pod setup is designed so that if there is a threat, the pods can be locked down. What hasn’t been considered is if the threat enters a specific pod and the pod is unlocked, all of the approximately 200 students in that pod will be left with no protection except for glass walls. This is a major flaw and could be incredibly dangerous for everyone in the building. 

Another large concern is focus. With a glass wall fully facing the comments in each classroom, teachers and students will be able to view anyone in the commons area. This brings up a clear concern with focus issues, especially amongst students with ADHD, ADD, and any students with trouble focusing. The commons are supposed to only be used by classes or students studying, but that will not stop people in there from possibly being distracting, whether it is on purpose or not.

A final massive concern is that teachers will not have their own classrooms. In order to save space and money, teachers will rotate through classrooms, so that no classroom is empty during a teacher‘s free period. Teachers will have small offices to reside in during prep periods. The problem with this is teachers cannot decorate their own classrooms. They will be able to have small decorations that must be agreed soon by all teachers who will use the room, which could be 2-4. This is a problem from a practical standpoint, as teachers may not be able to have learning materials on the walls, such as maps or periodic tables. This is also a problem for comfort reasons, as empty classrooms can often be cold, uninviting environments that are difficult to learn in. The district has said that if enrollment drops and we lose teachers, they may be allowed to “squat“ in a classroom and essentially claim it as their own, but they will still not be allowed to decorate it.

This new building will seem even more like a prison. Open viewing of those not in class, locked down pods, and the possibility of no windows in classrooms will make it feel like you are trapped, even more than usual. There are many issues I left out and I'm sure there are more I haven't even thought of. 

If you are currently in high school, this will not affect you, but that doesn't mean you shouldn’t stand up for the future generations. If we can get enough signatures, this will be sent to the board in charge of the construction. This can work and we've seen it before. Skyline’s original build plan would have followed similar blueprints, but there was enough backlash to change it. A school building can be rebuilt without extensive complications like these.

Please, sign this petition to help future students and teachers have a better experience in the coming years.