Samo! It’s time to make your voice heard
Sophie Salem, Staff Writer
This year, it has become clear that Samo students have many concerns and suggestions they would like to advocate for. From COVID-19 restrictions to school rules, students are eager to make changes. The only problem is, how do students even reach the school board? Without much guidance or information, students have found it difficult to get in touch with school officials. With so many matters to be resolved, it is important for students to use their voices to reach the higher ups.
Emails
Getting in touch with the school board has proven to be incredibly difficult. Students struggle to express their concerns and reach school officials. One great way to do this is to simply send an email to school officials at the email brd@smmusd.org. Make sure to thoroughly explain anything needed to say to avoid any unnecessary back and forth contact. For easy communication, the subject of the email should be the concern and the body of the email should get straight to the point.
Petitions
Another idea is to get students around campus to sign a petition. A petition would express students’ urge to make change and grab the attention of the school board quicker. Students can use change.org to create an online petition and send it to the board of education at the email address above (brd@smmusd.org). Students can also make an appointment with Principal Antonio Shelton to discuss their concerns. To do so, students can either go straight to the administration office, or email his assistant Caroline Springer who can be reached at cspringer@smmusd.org. This way, Shelton can assess whether or not school board should get involved.
Parents
Contacting Samo parents is also an approach worth considering when trying to get in touch with school officials. If an issue is urgent enough, many Samo parents can get the school board involved in minutes. The Samo parent Facebook page is an effective place to voice concerns for everyone to see. The PTA can also be reached through Facebook to easily connect to the school.
School board meetings
Additionally, there are regular board meetings led by the board of education. Students are more than welcome to join through the provided Zoom link on the Samo website. If discussed with the superintendent office before hand, students can be given a time slot to discuss their concerns with the board. To reach the superintendent office, be sure to fill out the short questionnaire on the SMMUSD website under “Our District”, then “Superintendent.”
It is difficult to get in touch with school officials, but these suggestions are bound to make students’ voices heard. Speak up, Samo!
