Updated, 10 a.m. Monday
principal Leise Martinez held a special meeting on Friday to address parent concerns over .
Computer Applications teacher Fred Jackson and Spanish teacher Esmeralda Tapia are both being relocated to other schools within the district because of a decline in enrollment.
Martinez said she did not find out the exact staffing level changes from the school district until Thursday, the day before the announcement was made, and that vice-principal Nathan McGill stayed up all night making the schedule changes for students.
“We just want to make sure the community understands that we’ve kept the core of the school intact, but I think that we’ll make a pretty good transition and have a pretty good rest of the year,” Martinez said.
Jackson’s five Computer Applications classes will not be replaced by another computer class, but students will instead be transferred to a college prep Critical Thinking English class, Martinez said.
The English class will teach test preparation and writing structure, and meets the college preparatory requirement for the University of California and California State University systems.
Martinez said the Computer Applications class was just a general elective and did not meet the college preparatory requirements.
“The requirements of [the Computer Applications class] will be fulfilled by just doing a report for geography,” Martinez said.
Students in Tapia’s Spanish 1 classes will be moved to Music Appreciation, which will fulfill their fine arts graduation requirement.
They also have the option of joining the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program to replace Spanish.
There are still three other Spanish teachers at the school, and students will still have an opportunity to take Spanish next year. The school will continue to offer Spanish, French and Japanese foreign language classes.
Some parents voiced concerns over their children not being able to get an early start on their foreign language requirements, which would hinder their ability to take Spanish 4 by senior year. Martinez’s only response was that a Spanish class could be offered during summer school.
The main concern parents had was schedule changes for their children when they are just getting adjusted to their existing schedules.
“What we didn’t need was three weeks into the school year you screwing with the schedule,” one mother said. “My son is shy and introverted and was just getting adjusted, and now we’re throwing this at him.”
Martinez said that counselors will be available to any students who may need help adjusting to schedule changes.
“We still want to support you and what you want for your children and know that we have to make these changes,” Martinez said. “So we’ll try to make it work.”
Parents said making these changes for ninth-grade students is stressful and that students are anxious over the possibility that their entire schedules may be changed.
“[Students] are upset and I understand that,” Martinez said. “Once students see their schedule and they’re adjusted, they’ll see that there really is not that much of a change.”
Parents were also concerned over the possibility of future changes during the school year. Martinez responded that as far as she knew, this will be the only change for the rest of the school year.
Martinez said she would be glad to speak with any parents concerned about their child’s schedule changes.
“We are certainly willing to make adjustments to strengthen the core of this school,” Martinez said. “I know that we will continue to provide a solid program and keep children well educated.”
Parents and students can view schedule changes by logging on to the school’s Zangle site and entering Sept. 26 as the date. Copies of student schedules will also be available before school on Monday.
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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the information Principal Leise Martinez had received from the school district on Thursday. Rosemont Patch regrets the error.
