UPDATE: Join us in attending the district-wide meeting at the ESUHSD office on March 5th, 2020 @ 4PM! The address is 830 N Capitol Avenue, San Jose, CA 95133. Make your voice heard and help prevent staff cuts all over the district! Hope to see you there!

Let’s get it straight.

ESUHSD is cutting off numerous counselors, athletics directors, and activities directors, among many others. This means that schools may not have access to school libraries, the ability to be cleared for sports, and even clubs may get disbanded. This monumental decision was made by the board of trustees along with our superintendent of the district.

With a cut in counselors, the number of students assigned to each counselor will double, or even triple, meaning less college-bound students at every school. The district is putting the future of our students in danger because of these unnecessary budget cuts. Though there may be counselors, students could possibly only see them once a year, preventing them from getting access to resources that are necessary for planning their future.

At every school, there must be an athletics director. Without the athletics director, we may not be able to organize any of our sports teams and provide a safe environment for our student athletes to play in. The athletics director is the one clearing students to play in sports, so without one, students do not get to play sports at all unless they get cleared by one. The athletics director is also in charge of all coaches for all sports teams, so who’s going to take charge of them with these cuts?

Many clubs and organizations on campus rely on the activities director to advise their activities and manage legal paperwork so students can do well within their clubs. However, if our activities directors are cut, students must take on the roles of an activities director on their own. These jobs, which require the knowledge and education of a teacher, may be impossible for students to do without guidance, causing nearly all clubs to collapse. The schools have a right to have an ASB, but it will be very hard to manage without an activities director as they help plan for school wide events such as rallies. Students will not be able to learn the leadership and soft skills needed for their futures if clubs get disbanded and if there's no guidance from an activities director for ASB.

We ask the East Side Union High School District to act in the interests of the staff, the teachers, and, most importantly, the students who will become the future of our society. We ask to not cut the faculty and budgets of our district’s schools.

~ From the very concerned ESUHSD’s Students

P.S.: Please state your reasons for signing below; we need to show the district that this movement has REAL voices!

P.P.S: This petition was not made to blame the district for making this decision, it's to make them aware that people do not agree with the cuts they have chosen to save money for the district. It's true that they have to make cuts, but we want to let them know that we do not support their solution and that there must be an alternative other than cutting off very important staff before it's too late.

P.P.P.S.: This article has information on the issue if you’d like to be more informed: https://sanjosespotlight.com/east-san-jose-school-district-oks-23-million-budget-cut-staff-layoffs/ An important quote from the article: “‘There is a way around these cuts but they must be negotiated,’ said District Superintendent Chris Funk . . . ‘We have until June to find savings’” (Woudenberg).