Bonita Vista High (BVH) planned a United States (U.S.) Army presentation for Feb. 29, where teachers could volunteer to take their students and learn more about the Army. However, the presentation was canceled on Feb. 28 as there were many complaints from teachers and parents regarding the presentation. U.S. History and Advanced Placement (AP) African American studies teacher Don Dumas shares what the intent of the presentation was about.
“I understood that the presentation included several different people in the Army [who would be going] to present about the different positions that were in the Army. The information was emailed to the teachers and we had to bring all of our students,” Dumas said.
The email was explicitly sent out by Associated Student Body (ASB) Advisor, Attendance Coordinator and Math teacher Christina Ada to staff members but not students or parents. The lack of transparency had concerned parents who discovered the email and were shocked to see that there was no parent request. With this in mind, Ada had canceled the event to avoid backlash towards BVH.
“The event was a recruiting event and there was some concern from parents and teachers that when you are recruiting for the military, it should be a parents decision on whether students should attend or not. Students should not have gone to that event without permission was what I was hearing,” Ada said.
Ada had believed that if the meeting was to continue, BVH principal Lee Romero would have to face several difficulties regarding upset parents. Ada added on claiming that the event was a recruiting event, which upset parents due to their unawareness of the presentation. However, Romero felt that students were old enough to determine their own decisions regarding the presentation.
“A lot of teachers signed up, but very few were adamantly against it and parents would be upset that I allowed their kids to hear presentations from the military because they were very strongly against the military recruiting students. Upset parents thought it was a recruiting technique which technically it is, but I believe students are old enough to determine if they want to be part of the military or not. Giving information out to students is important and that was my take,” Romero said.
Ada expressed her mixed feelings towards the presentation and what action BVH should take. However, she notes her own interest in the Army’s ability to bring in different opportunities for students who are interested in the military.
“It was cool how the presentation would connect different classes that students were in and connect to careers that the Army was offering. It was an opportunity for teachers to take whatever they were doing in the classroom and give it a connection to the real world. However, I understand the concern that it was an army backed event and there were no other options given to students,” Ada said.
The decision on how to approach the conflict was left to Romero as he received emails from teachers and parents. Though the event was canceled, Romero brainstormed a BVH career day for the Army and other career opportunities to come on campus for students.
“I was warned if the Army presentation was continued there would be a lot of controversy towards me as a principal. It’s never my goal to bring drama and bring events to the school that detract from students’ learning,” Romeor said. “After I had asked Ada to cancel it, I said to invite the Army back for a career day where we bring the military, the police, firefighters, colleges, etc. to do presentations.” Romero said.
BVH staff like Dumas expressed their support for a career day at BVH and continue to brainstorm effective methods for future presentations. Dumas explains that having permission slips given to students signed by their parents allows them to go to the presentation without having students who are not interested being forced to go to the meeting.
“A career day where colleges, electricians, plumbers and also military recruiters, is appropriate. It is perfectly okay to send out permission slips for presentations after school hours or during the school day where a student can voluntarily come up to them, its information. I do not think it’s reasonable for a parent to expect to send their kid to school to be recruited by the military without their permission,” Dumas said.
