URGENT! Action Needed NOW To Save Science Camp!
Z and I just returned from the public meeting of the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education meeting. We were there to speak out against a rules change that the Board made behind closed doors and without public comment. Since the item was not on the agenda the Board would neither discuss the issue with us nor answer any questions. We were, however allowed to speak and speak we did. Z and another student spoke; two teachers, Ms. Gallup and Coach Reynolds, spoke; a parent of three former South Valley Middle School students spoke; and I spoke. We all had the same message, although delivered from varying viewpoints-
To cancel the annual 7th grade science camp at Yosemit National Park on such short notice is not only unfair, but unwise.
There would surely have been more parents, students and teachers present and speaking except that this decision was NEVER publicized. We were able to attend only because Ms. Gallup called us and informed us of the meeting and the decision around 3:30 this afternoon. The meeting began at 7pm. I suppose I’ve skipped some viatl information in my haste to get this message out so allow me to back up for a moment.
The school board has recently re-interpreted an existing district rule in such a way as to remove the possibility of 7th graders attending a weeklong trip to Yosemite this coming February. the school has been taking part in this annual trip for at leeast a decade now and the current 7th graders have already been working hard and planning for this year’s trip. The decision to cancel the trip was NOT made because of budget concerns, but due to fear of litigation over the inequality of not every student being allowed to attend.
The fact of the matter, however is that every single student who has expressed a desire to attend will be allowed to attend. This is because Ms. Gallup applied for (and recieved) over $6,000 in scholarshis from the Yosemite camp to cover the expenses of kids who finances would otherwise not permit them to attend. Additionally, several fundraisers have been scheduled and every Friday afternoon (AFTER school) several students volunteer their time togather recyclable materials from around the campus in order to meeet any further budgetary shortfalls.
Ms. Gallup, the students, and the parentshave all banded together to overcome every possible hurdle on this journey to Yosemite. And now the School Board wants to invalidate all of their hard work simply out of fear of some possible complaint at a later date? This is absolutely ridiculous. All they are doing is teaching the kids that their desires and hard work mean nothing. With dropout rates being the primary concern of this school board one would think that they would be fighting to provide more incentive for kids to stay in school, not take away one of the few remaining activities that kids look forward to.
PLEASE take a few moments and call or email the members of the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education IMMEDIATELY and let your feelings on this issue be known. All of their conact information and a sample email (that can be copied and pasted or rewritten in your own words) is available at this page.
Time is of the essence as Ms. Gallup is already being pestered by Yosemite to send in her deopsit money or our slot will be given to another school. If she does not get the go-ahead from the school board in a matter of days it will be too late. If she sends in the money and the school board then refuses permission for the students to go the money will not berefunded and families already stretched thin in the current economy will suffer the loss of $100 or more in return for nothing.
You can read my daughter Zaira’s thoughts on her blog post: SAVE SCIENCE CAMP!!!!!!!!!!
UPDATE: Sara Suddes of the Gilroy Dispatch has just published an article about this topic on their website – Middle school teachers, students rally to keep Yosemite trip
Tags: Board of Education, Gilroy Unified School District, Ms. Gallup, Science Camp, South Valley Middle School, Yosemite
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yphjbygmeghvusycwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch