The academic lives of students are constantly impacted by the decisions that the school board makes. Recently, Claremont held its biennial school board election, and though there were many residents who voted, none of the members they voted for ever attended a Claremont public school. The best resolution to this lack of representation would be to have each high school class nominate one delegate. The school board needs to change their policy on voting because students need to be represented in their own school district’s government.

The main job of a school board is to set a goal for the school district to carry out. This plan is created in order to address the problems of the district and fix them with a designed budget. So members with past experience as teachers or who have had previous involvement in the school district give valuable input, but the most important opinion is that of the students. Since the goal of the board is supposed to reflect the needs of the whole district, it is necessary for the students on the board to be elected directly by their peers.

Since 1976, the voting turnout for the young citizens ages 18-25 of the United States has been under 50%, according to the Civic Youth organization. This number is highly disappointing and shows the lack of interest that the American youth has in the government. However, this interest is necessary because for a democracy to function, the citizens must be interested and be involved in the government. According to the Seattle Times, a high school in Washinton was granted the opportunity to take part in the school district government. Students were allowed to orchestrate a debate and ask their own questions to the school board candidates. This form of student involvement should be allowed to occur in Claremont, though that alone would not be enough to fill the needs of the students.

High school students are mature enough to participate in the election of school board officials, and students under the age of 18 that attend CHS should have the option to vote if they so choose. While not all students are passionate about their right to vote, the students who do care about the officials making the decisions for their school district would be more than happy to vote on behalf of the student body.

Students currently have two representatives on the school board: San Antonio High School student Drake Winfrey and CHS student Alexa Ramirez. These student members are chosen from the existing inter-school council members by the board. The members of this council are a part of ASB, and are voted into office by the students of CHS. Students are indirectly voting for members to represent them, but the students need a much more direct form of representation in the school district’s government. They need to have at least one representative from each grade level at the high school. These representatives must be chosen by the student body with no outside influence from the school board members. The members would serve on the board for a whole school year until another election is conducted at the end of the year. These are the changes that must be made to board regulation to ensure that the opinions of the students would be reflected by the decisions the school board makes.

The right to vote has constantly been reformed through the ages and this could be the next step. Allowing students to partake in an election that directly affects them and their studies would increase their interest in government, a value that is currently lacking in the minds of the younger residents of the United States. Letting students vote for one student representative from each grade. as well as letting students vote for board members, would give the students a significant amount of influence in the school district’s government. This would be most appealing to the students who would like to see their board members fight for what they believe is imperative, and not what a majority of adults think is necessary. This is a call to the students of Claremont to see their right to vote expanded and to make sure that the people making the choices for this district have the right plan in mind.