News

EPA closes public schools, opens new charter school W ith the construction of a new charter high school in East Palo Alto underway, the Ravenswood City School District will close two public elementary schools.

The district approved the closings due to a lack of enrollment and funds — the schools in the district currently serve around half their maximum capacity of students, according to the interim superintendent.

Amid this change, the Sequoia Union High School District Board of Trustees voted to approve a new high school’s charter petition in late September 2019. However, members of SUHSD have expressed concerns over the impact charter schools can have on public school resources.

Because state funding is based on the enrollment of each school district, RCSD has been forced to cut costs as enrollment has been steadily decreasing for over five years. by ANTONIA MOU and MICHELLE KIM

SHAM(E) Rally participants cheer and hold up signs with clever slogans as cars honk passing by the protest. “Hey, hey, ho, ho, [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell has got to go,” the group of over 40 protesters chant. Photo by Emma Donelly-Higgins Trump's acquittal sparks protest

ARALLY TO PROTEST the Senate impeachment acquittal of United States President Donald Trump occured on Feb. 5 at the corner of El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road.

Earlier that afternoon, the Senate voted against Trump’s removal from office on two articles of impeachment — obstruction of justice and abuse of power — bringing the multi-week trial to an end. The trial had no witnesses and all but one senator voted along party lines.

“We are here to make a very simple statement, which is that we reject the

by RACHEL LIT and EMMA DONELLY-HIGGINS non-trial, which is really nothing more than a cover up,” rally organizer Susie Hwang said.

Hwang added that she believes the most important thing that people can do to take action is to vote in the upcoming elections.

“We have to win at the presidential level, the Senate, we have to defend the House, we have to win state races,” Hwang said. “To win elections we need … a more representative electorate.”

Rapidly replacing Principal Paulson S INCE THE NEWS of the resignation of Palo Alto High School Principal Adam Paulson, Palo Alto Unified School District Deputy Superintendent Karen Hendricks has outlined the process of hiring a new principal. According to the schedule, Paly’s new principal, who will replace Paulson this fall, will be announced in the middle of March. by ALLISON CHANG

Paulson announces his resignation via email to community. Needs Assessment took place to get input from students and staff on what they want in the next principal. Job posting closes. Candidates are prescreened and initial reference checks occur. Candidates begin initial screening interviews with Superintendent Don Austin, Hendricks and Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Services Sharon Ofek.

THE SCHOOL BOARD is considering implementing changes to grading practices that would make homework, effort and attendance not directly impact student grades.

The topic was brought up at the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education Jan. 14 meeting, where board members discussed whether to adopt the California School Board Association’s model language for grading standards.

“If I read the language of this it seems sort of utterly unobjectionable,” Board Member Ken Dauber said. “‘A teacher shall base a student’s grade solely on the quality of the student’s academic work and his or her mastery of course content based on district standards.’”

With this proposed change, grades would be based on a variety of assessments including tests, projects and class discussions, while areas such as homework would no longer be factors.

“I’ve come to understand that in our middle and high schools, there are times that students are not mastering the content of the course, but receiving a passing grade because they completed homework,” Board Member Jennifer DiBrienza stated in an email. “I’d hate to think that we are passing students through classes while failing to actually teach the content of the class.”

At the Jan. 14 meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Services Sharon Ofek introduced the suggested revision. “It is reflective of the past decade’s shift in education overall and is indicative of the evolution of grading practices in our own district –– a district that already has teachers exploring with standards based grading and learning,” Ofek said at the meeting.

While this is intended to lower student stress, Palo Alto High School junior Hope Morita said that this is not an effective way to address the issue.

“As someone who doesn’t always do wonderfully on tests, it is really helpful to be able to have some percentage of my grade be based on the work I put into the class,” Morita said.

DiBrienza explained that the modification will still allow for a variety of factors that impact a student's grades –– the only difference being that homework would not be one such factor.

“The proposed policy change in no way limits grading to high stakes tests,” DiBrienza stated. “Rather it states that grades consist of evaluation of tests, projects, portfolios, class discussions, etc. Homework might be work on a project or preparation for a class discussion and that certainly would count.”

Ofek said in the meeting that such a shift would take time and further discussion.

“Adoption of this policy would not result in an overnight change in practice rather a paced implementation over time,” she said. homework impact on grades by AVERY HANNA

Candidates are panel-interviewed by two students, two to four site staff members, two parents, a representative from Physician Assistant Education Association, a representative from California School Employees Association, two district staffs and facilitated by Lisa Hickey, Director of Certificated Human resources.

New Paly principal is announced and posted on the School Board Agenda.

Final interviews, post-screening and additional reference checks are completed.

New Paly principal is announced at School Board Meeting.

Anew anti-vape committee will host a panel on Feb. 25 at Palo Alto High School to encourage peer-to-peer discussion about the e-cigarette epidemic.

Paly Associated Student Body representatives shared their plans for the panel at the Jan. 23 Palo Alto Teen Vaping Community Leaders Breakfast at Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Although specific details of the panel are still in the works, the attendance of Stanford University Professor of Pediatrics Bonnie Halpern-Felsher is confirmed. The panel will take place during Tutorial in the Paly Performing Arts Center, and will likely be mandatory for freshmen. “We are hoping to target the youngest of students on campus to ensure they know that vaping has never, is not and will not be tolerated on our campus,” Ben Gordon, ASB Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education representative, said.

In response to parent reactions to the vaping epidemic, ASB debuted an anti-vape committee at the beginning of the semester. The committee, comprised of various ASB members, will focus on connecting directly with students to address the issue. According to Gordon, a committee member, the most powerful tool against vaping is communication between students on the matter. Gordon hopes to include a variety of students with different opinions on the issue.

“I would love to have people come in and say ‘Hey, I don’t know if a vape ban is the best option’ and we can ask why,” Gordon said at the Jan. 23 conference. ASB anti-vape committee to host panel for students

STUDENTS, OFFICIALS QUASH RUMORS OF DISEASE IN CITY

“Although we do understand that this confirmed case may raise concern, this one case, in fact, does not change the risk to the general public.” — SARA CODY, Santa Clara County Public Health Department director W ITH A RISING DEATH toll in China and cases popping up in California, the coronavirus epidemic has sparked concern but no infection within the Palo Alto community.

Despite rumors of its spread to Palo Alto High School families, Santa Clara County Public Health Department Director Sara Cody confirmed to Verde Magazine that there are no cases of coronavirus in Palo Alto as of early February.

“I’ve done nothing for the last three weeks but think about the coronavirus,” Cody said. “The risk to the community remains low.”

While the virus is largely contained within China, it still has an impact on the local community here in Palo Alto. Sam, a Paly student whose name has been changed to protect their identity, says they feel this influence.

“My dad and I are really scared of the coronavirus,” Sam said. “My mom was in China for Chinese New Year. Once the news that America was about to evacuate American citizens from China was out, my mom left China and came back to Palo Alto. She went into self-quarantine and thank God that she displayed no symptoms.”

Alex, a Paly student whose name has also been changed to protect their identity, is another whose family has been affected by the outbreak. After flying back from Wuhan to celebrate Chinese New Year with their family, Alex’s father quarantined himself for 14 days. With Alex’s grandparents stranded in the city and an aunt who works as a doctor in Wuhan, the disease hits close to home.

“I’m actually pretty concerned since my grandparents are the most vulnerable,” Alex said. “For my aunt, I’m a bit less afraid, but the fact that she will be working firsthand with patients is very scary.” Alex also expressed concern over the number of unconfirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States.

“It’s somewhat concerning because that statistic only represents the amount of detected cases in our country,” Alex said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were actually much more infected.” News of the coronavirus’ spread resulted in rumors of a Paly parent contracting the virus.

“To be honest, I think that is exactly my dad, but he doesn't have it,” Alex said. “It just so happens that I told my friend that my dad flew back from Wuhan recently and then maybe the words somehow turned into ‘My dad has coronavirus,’ but rumors spread quickly. It doesn’t actually impact me, it just makes me annoyed that people are thinking like that.”

In response to the spread of the virus, the Palo Alto Unified School District is suggesting that students who have recently been to China or been in contact with someone who has recently visited China be quarantined for 14 days. Anyone who was in the Hubei province after Jan. 19 will face mandatory quarantine.

In Superintendent Don Austin’s Feb. 3 message regarding coronavirus, he promised that the district would work with students in quarantine to support continued learning throughout their absences.

In response to the virus, some Palo Alto residents have taken precautions — such as wearing masks — to prevent contracting the disease. Paly Health Technician Jennifer Kleckner simply recommends that students frequently wash their hands.

“Since many of our residents travel frequently for business and personal reasons, we are not surprised to be announcing the first case in the Bay Area and in Northern California,” Cody said. “Although we do understand that this confirmed case may raise concern, this one case, in fact, does not change the risk to the general public.” In comparison to other strains of coronavirus from the past, this “novel” coronavirus is spreading much faster, but with a lower fatality rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has killed over 1,000 people in China. OUT OF STOCK The Town and Country CVS Pharmacy has been sold out of face masks for several weeks now. The mask shortage extends to Palo Alto High School as well. “Masks are not being provided, except to students who have a fever and are waiting to be picked up by their family,” Paly Health Technician Jennifer Kleckner stated in an email. Photo by Myra Xu Text by MYRA XU, AVERY HANNA and RYAN SETO