Who are we asking to make the change?

Adams City High School Administration, Adams County School District 14 Administration, Superintendent, and Adams 14 Board of Education

Petition description:
Adams City High School students are asking to be heard.

Students and families have raised serious concerns about changes at Adams City High School affecting academics, graduation planning, course availability, scheduling, staffing, student privileges, communication, and the overall school environment.

This petition is not about resisting change.

Adams 14 has faced significant academic challenges, and meaningful improvement is necessary. But change alone is not improvement. Changes should expand educational opportunities, support student achievement, and prepare students for graduation, college, careers, and adulthood.

Among the concerns students and families are currently raising are:

• Difficulty accessing classes students need for graduation
• Loss or limited availability of classes supporting college and career goals
• Changes affecting students pursuing early graduation or accelerated academic plans
• Elimination or restriction of off periods for qualifying juniors and seniors
• Students being required to maintain full schedules even when other educational opportunities may better support their individual goals
• Sudden schedule and policy changes without adequate advance communication
• Concerns regarding teacher departures, staffing changes, class sizes, and instructional assignments
• Concerns that some teachers may be assigned to subjects outside their primary areas of experience or expertise
• Changes involving lunch, student independence, and privileges
• Concerns regarding dress-code restrictions and student self-expression
• Students reporting an increasingly restrictive school environment
• Concerns that students, parents, and teachers are not being meaningfully heard before significant changes are implemented

We recognize that some of these concerns require further clarification and information from district leadership. That is precisely why transparency is one of the things we are requesting.

What We Are Asking For

We are asking Adams City High School and Adams County School District 14 to:

1. Protect students' academic pathways.
Ensure students have access to required graduation courses and meaningful college, career, advanced, and credit-earning opportunities.

2. Review recent scheduling changes.
Provide individualized assistance to students whose graduation, early-graduation, college, or career plans have been negatively affected.

3. Reconsider off-period policies for qualifying upperclassmen.
Responsible students who meet reasonable academic, attendance, credit, and behavioral requirements should have opportunities to pursue college coursework, employment, internships, career training, and other productive activities.

4. Provide transparency regarding staffing.
Explain significant teacher departures, eliminated or reassigned positions, class-size changes, and how staffing decisions are affecting course availability and instructional quality.

5. Ensure appropriate instructional assignments.
Students deserve qualified, properly supported educators with the knowledge and preparation necessary to teach their assigned subjects.

6. Review student policies.
Reconsider changes involving lunch, student independence, privileges, and dress expectations while maintaining legitimate safety and educational standards.

7. Improve communication.
Families deserve clear and timely information about major changes, including what is changing, why it is changing, when it takes effect, who it affects, and how it is expected to improve student outcomes.

8. Include the people affected.
Create meaningful opportunities for students, parents, guardians, teachers, and staff to provide input regarding significant decisions affecting education and school life.

9. Hold a public community forum.
We request that ACHS and Adams 14 leadership meet with students, families, and educators to address these concerns directly and answer questions.

We Support Change. We Expect It to Be Good Change.
This petition is not asking Adams 14 to return to the status quo.

We want improvement.

But improvement should be measured by results: Are students learning more? Are graduation opportunities improving? Are students better prepared for college and careers? Are effective teachers being retained? Are students receiving meaningful academic opportunities?

Questioning whether a policy accomplishes those goals is not resistance to change. It is accountability.

Students deserve an education that prepares them for their futures.

Teachers deserve to have their professional voices respected.

Parents deserve timely and accurate information.

And students deserve to know that when decisions are made about their education, their voices matter.

Please sign this petition if you support academic opportunity, transparency, accountability, and meaningful student and family input at Adams City High School.