In this issue’s Center Page Spread (CPS), the Crusader investigates how the resigning or relocating of Bonita Vista High (BVH) administrators and teachers has impacted the schools overall environment.

Near the end of the 2022-2023 school year on Wed. April 19, Assistant Principal (AP) Esther Wise announced her departure from BVH after four years. Over the summer, Integrated Math III teacher Angel Prado relocated to a permanent position as an Integrated Math III teacher at Montgomery High. On July 31 of the 2023-2024 school year, AP Jason Josafat declared his resignation. Most recently, former AP and Associated Student Body (ASB) advisor Patricia Pérez released an email announcing her official resignation from both roles on Sept. 4. These are just a few of the many resignations that have taken place over the course of the last two school years. 

Concerns regarding these resignations seemed to reach a climax after Pérez gave up her positions. Pérez took her leave a week before the BVH homecoming game and dance—two of the notable ASB-run events of the school year. In an email sent to staff members on Sept. 4, Pérez announced her official resignation from her position to “focus on [her] overall health and well-being.” BVH Principal Lee Romero shares his concerns regarding Pérez’s leave and its effect on the shocked community.

“The most challenging position to cover is Pérez’s ASB position. In my opinion, the ASB position at any site is the most challenging position in every high school. In Pérez’s absence, our school has been fortunate to have a teacher like Christina Ada who has past experience supporting the ASB position,” Romero said.

Romero expresses how valuable and essential having Attendance Coordinator and math teacher Christina Ada has been during the stressful transition. However, Ada has taken on multiple responsibilities and roles at BVH—and filling a position as big as Pérez’s is a hard task to fit into her already busy schedule. 

“When I was informed of Pérez’s resignation, Ada was willing to jump right in and ensure that our homecoming activities, sporting events and homecoming dance were not negatively affected in any way. Ada, with our ASB students, have done an exceptional job ensuring that all activities associated with this position were supported,” Romero said.

ASB advisor is not the only position that has desperately needed to be filled. Ada having to take over Pérez’s vacant role has resulted in International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Coordinator Jared Phelps taking over one of her several IB Math Analysis & Approaches (A&A) Higher level (HL) classes to balance the scale of class distribution among staff. 

“When we lost our ASB advisor, [Ada] has been helping to fill the gap. She is the one person on campus that knows how to do all of that, but she could not do that on top of teaching the classes of 50 that she has and attendance coordinating. She has a lot of hats to wear. [Taking this position] was something that the administration found was a manageable middle ground in terms of helping her be able to shoulder more of the weight in the ASB,” Phelps said.

Filling in different roles with different responsibilities, Ada’s quick and unexpected involvement in the various tasks she managed caused a change in workflow. As a result, problems began to arise such as a lack of communication without everyone on the same page, affecting school clubs like Task Force, which bore the huge responsibility of planning homecoming.

“It has definitely been more stressful, especially with homecoming week just around the corner. It has been a bit harder to get things done but Ada has worked very hard to keep good communication with us,” Task Force 2024 President and senior Ariel Villegas said.

As a student, Villegas is still able to observe how administrators and teachers leaving puts stress onto other staff members. She has witnessed teachers like Ada having to fill these gaps due to staff members departing. 

“I think staff leaving puts a lot of pressure on everyone else because it leaves a gap to fill. If there is no one to fill it, it makes everyone else have to accommodate to it. Staff are going to have to do more than what they did in the past, like Ada for example. She was mainly a teacher and now she has moved to the head of ASB,” Villegas said.

Increased pressure and stress among staff has only expanded for BVH as more staff members resign. Moreover, the balance of responsibilities among staff has led to those like Romero taking on additional responsibilities and it created a sense of unity among BVH administration, where they are all striving for success.

“With the absence of two administrators [Josafat and Pérez], Siragusa, Bogart and I have had to add additional responsibilities including sporting supervisions. One of my responsibilities as the principal is to ensure that changes and challenges on our administrative team do not have a negative affect for any of our staff,” Romero said.

Calculating a new loss

Overall, the various accommodations made in the BVH administration position system has resulted in staff taking on new responsibilities and allowed a sense of reflection on how the BVH community is affected and supported. After staff members left, the school environment was not as bright anymore because students lost a staff member they were close with. For instance, former AP Jason Josafat built a strong support system and bonded well with many individuals at BVH before moving on to become BayFront Charter High Principal.

“I had a deep connection with Josafat because he was my guy. I was used to seeing him every morning. Him leaving left a little hole in me because he always used to talk to me and catch up on things,” senior Diego Figueroa said.

With a strong influence on the BVH community, Josafat fostered various relationships and impacted many students as an AP. However, Josafat was not meant to be an AP forever as one of Romero’s objectives is to advance teachers and APs into higher positions like district members or principals, so it was to be expected that Josafat would leave BVH eventually.

“As a principal, one of our responsibilities is to prepare and train our Assistant Principals to become directors or principals. Several teachers on campus are seeking positions as Assistant Principals. With this in mind, there might be movement in the near future,” Romero said. 

As Romero plans for continuous shifting in the future regarding BVH staff positions, he emphasizes the aftereffects and circumstances created as a result. Furthermore, he compares BVH’s current situation and explains his perspective on how the “unique situation is stressful to [him] and [his] admin team.” Former BVH Integrated Math III teacher Angel Prado was one of the many teachers to leave BVH for a position at Montgomery High. He elaborates on how the change in staff has affected him and his work flow with his peers.

“When you are working with a team, you guys have a routine, a certain flow and a certain way of doing things. Then when the team disbands and somebody else gets added to the team, sometimes it might be difficult [to continue] the same thing going. That is not necessarily a bad thing. But it will sometimes disrupt learning because new relationships have to be formed with the people you are working with,” Prado said.

Connections that are built within the school community are essential to creating long-lasting relationships in a school setting which is expressed by many staff members, especially ones that have left for new positions at different schools such as Prado. Many connections have been broken with the recent leave of many teachers from the math department. This has led to staff members such as Phelps needing to take over classes that were not originally planned in his schedule for this year.

“This year was set to be another [year where I did not have to teach an IB math class] because the principal wanted me to have more time to develop IB programs and other things that I am doing in terms of leadership with the school. With all the shifts and things that were happening, we just did not have a choice. I took the class back in order to enable another teacher to do some of the things that they needed to do,” Phelps said.

With this new change, things were not able to go as planned for Phelps. He realized he would not be able to complete his goals that he had planned for the year. Sudden changes like these can mess up the flow of a classroom and the connection a teacher makes with their students.

“I spent the first like six or twelve weeks being like, ‘I do not like this. I miss my students. I miss interacting with them and teaching math.’ I finally got used to being like, ‘Oh my gosh, but there is so much I can do for the whole school.’ This year I knew that feeling, so I was able to start the year [thinking], I am going to do these big things. Taking the class back has been a little bit of a hit to those things,” Phelps said.

The struggle to build a connection

On top of teachers taking on new roles and classes, staff members were left unsure of what was going to happen regarding next steps within new staff and their roles. Phelps elaborates on the difference between teachers with temporary and permanent contracts at BVH.

“Some teachers are permanent teachers, some are probationary teachers and temporary teachers. As of the end of last year, we had multiple temporary teachers. We were not even sure if we were going to get any of those teachers back. So when other people left, it was [like] the problem got even bigger than we thought that it was going to,” Phelps said.

Phelps adds how the reason behind many teachers leaving BVH for new positions may be because of vacancies at other schools that teachers at BVH are left to fill. Teachers that were on temporary contracts, even at the end of last school year, may have been offered permanent contracts at another school where they would be guaranteed a job the following school year. Prado explains how he was one of the many teachers on a temporary contract at BVH.

“Several teachers were laid off in the Sweetwater Union High School district, I was part of that group. Ever since then, I have struggled to come back to Sweetwater on a permanent contract. Every contract I have been offered has been temporary. While I was at BVH, I was on a temporary contract. But last year I was offered a permanent contract, it required me to be at a different school, which is why I ended up leaving,” Prado said.

Despite not staying at BVH, Prado expresses the bonds he created during his stay. He was in a dilemma when it came to the decision of whether to take the new, permanent position or to rely on a temporary contract. Since relationships are an essential part of a school community, changing schools forces him to recreate these bonds.

“I had grown really close to the students and the staff there. At one point I was considering, maybe I give up the job security of being a permanent teacher, and just rely on the temporary contract if that means I can stay at BVH. Even then, there was no guarantee on a temporary contract that I would end up back at BVH. So it was really a no win situation,” Prado said.

Temporary contracts affect teachers in regards to their security and whether they will have a job the next year or not. Phelps wants to reassure students and staff that BVH faculty are not leaving because they grew tired of education, but rather to secure better opportunities at other places.

“We do not have administration or teachers who are leaving here and [are] like, ‘Well, I am done in education. I am tired.’ They are continuing to do that work. They are finding places to take that further. I think I see that as a good thing. It is hard because I want more stability here. I do not want people leaving,” Phelps said.

Although teachers and administrators that are continuing on in their careers are benefited through leaving, it can harm the school they leave by making it difficult for the empty positions to be filled. AP Nicoleta Bogart, who is in charge of the master scheduling for the teachers at BVH explains how it takes time to fill positions and the process that they must go through.

“What was difficult in this process was getting them hired full time. I recommend the teacher and [then] say ‘can you please put them in the system?’ They take a while for fingerprints, history of that person and making sure that the credentials are the right credential for the courses that they are supposed to teach,” Bogart said.

Bogart adds how inputting all the information on new teachers who get hired must go through the district, making the process even longer. She also explains her thoughts behind why teachers and administrators have left based on what she has heard from her peers.

“Just listening to friends that left the district, [the reason they are leaving] is being closer to home because of the commute. Some of them are living in La Mesa and [were] driving in the morning traffic, [so] they got a job closer to home,” Bogart said.

Limited time, continuous effort

No matter the reason for their leaving, there is work being done to change the circumstances. They have worked towards having new staff members fill the positions and assist in redeveloping connections within classrooms.

“I think that the administration has the interest of teachers and students in mind. I am really glad that we were able to bring [Integrated math III and IB Math A&A Standard level teacher] Jessica Erlenheim. I am really glad that we have Bogart. So we’re continuing to be optimistic and find silver linings where we can,” Phelps said.

New teachers like Erlenheim were temporary teachers and then became permanent after going through the paperwork. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers ended up not having jobs or were put onto temporary contracts. These are issues that are still affecting current teachers.

“It was a really difficult choice, leaving my students. I taught mostly Integrated Math III, which meant a lot of my students were juniors. This year, they are seniors. It was very hard to make the choice to leave because now I will not be able to see them in their senior year. I want to see them graduate [and] apply to colleges,” Prado said.

Students have expressed how much they miss Prado as their teacher and seeing how connected he became with them. Prado adds how although he teaches math, his students are more than just math students and have personal interests and lives. This is why he strived to involve himself in, to encourage more students to enjoy learning math. 

“I spent a lot of time going to students’games. I want to see my student athletes and kids who have jobs. They said ‘come visit me at my job.’ And I did, to support kids in things that they want to do,” Prado said.

Many things have to be discussed with new staff and students regarding material taught in a classroom. Prado working at his new school with no connection to the students or staff made it difficult at the beginning to establish connections. He expresses how he created his relationship with BVH students and how it benefits the students in the long run.

“When you are working with kids, they do not want to learn from people they do not like. Teaching them especially is hard and teaching it to kids who do not like you is going to be even worse. It is really important, no matter what content you teach, that you build those relationships with kids, and you get that opportunity every day,” Prado said.

Math can be a difficult subject for many and it challenges students even more when it comes to meeting a new teacher or being in the standby zone where there is no permanent teacher. Along the way, bonds can bloom from these new relationships. Prado and Ada have created tighter connections, and it shows through the words of students impacted by this change of authority.

“[Prado] always prioritized his students over anything. He would be working on his [college]  essays when he assigned homework or when we have our free time in class; he would immediately switch and start doing his college work,” Figueroa said.

Although Prado was working towards his doctorate degree during his time at BVH, he would go out of his way to help his students in need. When Figueroa endured his car crash during his sophomore year, Prado visited Figueroa to check-up on him, displaying his empathetic gesture.

“Prado was one of the few teachers that cared because when I got in my car accident, he came to my house to see how I was doing and got me a gift. Him leaving left a big hole in my heart, because I was so close with him,” Figueroa said.

Teachers can have a way with burrowing their way into their students hearts. For Figueroa, he was very touched by Prado’s words and felt that he truly cared for him and all his other students.

“[Prado] told me ‘Don’t worry about anything. You’re fine just focus on healing’ and he cared so much about me,” Figueroa said.

Figueroa expressed how proud he was for Prado to obtain a secure job at another school. It was a bittersweet moment for Figueroa because he knew Prado since his sophomore year and would not have a means of encouragement any longer.

Helping on a greater scale

Another shift in workflow includes ASB where Ada is temporarily in place of Pérez’s position as ASB advisor. ASB treasurer and junior Leina Clark reveals the inside details of ASB since Ada took control.

“[Production] was a little bit slow, but we later had other staff members who stepped in and supported us along with the officers who took a bigger leadership step in supporting us as well,” Clark said. “I think that we really pulled our weight and did what we could with the conditions of not having that type of administrative perspective.” 

Having prior or similar experience with a job can help immensely when it comes to handling a new position. Clark mentions she knew Ada prior to Pérez which eased her way into feeling more comfortable with the new advisor. She also sheds light on their similarity in terms of leadership.

“Ada and Pérez are good leaders, so there was little to no change with Ada controlling ASB. I knew [Ada] prior to Pérez so that built a foundation for our productivity in general,” Clark said.

This was not a new lens for Ada to capture, but this was a higher role she was taking on. Ada was close with former ASB advisor Christopher Alvarez and was in touch with taskforce culture which made the sudden switch flow more seamlessly.

“[Ada] is very present as she has been handling multiple positions such as the attendance coordinator, math teacher and task force. But she helps the ASB to the best of her ability and we truly appreciate her for that,” Clark said.

Contributions of Ada greatly helped staff and students among various roles through the school. With such big responsibilities, many feel teachers do not make enough in comparison to what they sacrifice. While it is difficult to deduct the specific reason teachers are resigning or relocating, the issue of teacher salary has always been considered a highly probable reason. 

“It is unfair that teachers do not get paid enough because they teach the next generation,” Figueroa said. “I feel like that is honestly a big factor as to why staff leaves because [teachers] doing their job is what is helping us prepare for our futures.”

Many teachers go out of their way to create relationships and prepare students for their future. However, it may be difficult for new teachers as they will not be able to do that right away, some may not go out of their way like others did. If staff continue to leave in the following years, it creates a domino effect and impacts both staff and students.

“Kids won’t be getting the same education that they deserve because the classes could be poorly organized and rushed. There could also be a limited supply of materials for the kids and I just feel like teachers continuing to leave is going to leave a really big impact,” Figueroa said.

It’s difficult for staff to worry about the insecurity of their job. However, it’s also hard for students 

“Some teachers have been leaving because they have a full schedule of one through six causing them to not have a prep period. Due to teachers leaving based on their busy schedules, there is constant subbing,” Figueroa said, “I feel like students are concerned about that too because it’s their education but it’s also difficult for teachers; it’s a lose-lose situation.”

Through these hard times, Romero stresses that BVH continues to carry on. He specifies that it is because of the staff still present on campus that school activities continue to run. Students and other staff members have proven to be affected by these leaves, but that does not mean BVH will not persevere. 

“I just want to thank Ada and every student in the ASB for continuing to move forward in supporting our sporting events, assemblies and all other activities related to student activities. These individuals have been critical in keeping our schools’ vision moving forward,” Romero said.