BY JAYDYNN SANTOS
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Last year’s fall term, students started a petition to complain about their teacher inadequately preparing them for an upcoming AP test. Only nine students out of the two full AP Biology classes ended up taking the exam for the course.
A few months ago, several seniors, including senior Prince Uwobahorana, reported to an RHS faculty member that they heard their teacher use a racial slur during class. Now, band students and parents are planning to start a petition to try and protest against the dismissal of their band director Mark Toffelmier.
In each instance, Roseville High School principal David Byrd tried to take incident-specific courses of action to address student complaints and petitions.
According to Byrd, when students file a complaint about a teacher to admin, or a complaint about administrative direction, the situation would ideally be addressed immediately.
“In general when a student complains about a teacher we will try to handle that right here at the site,” Byrd said. “[We would] go to talk to the teacher and talk to the student and get both sides of the story. If we can get a resolution in a way that both sides go that’s fair, I understand, then we cleared the air. Sometimes that’s what it is, communication issues.”
Sometimes, RHS administration has taken a more direct role.
Last term, two classes of frustrated students signed a petition, led by seniors Assata Baker and Nilab Habib, to try and receive their promised credit for their AP Government class. Byrd took their plight to fellow administrators, but to no avail.
“Me and Nilab got a lot of support in getting a lot of signatures,” Baker said. “But it was really hard to get those signatures to the higher level, so it wasn’t active as it should’ve been because it was really hard to get the attention of the people higher up.”
According to Byrd, he attempted to give the students’ credit for taking the AP Gov class by talking to other principals. He cites one of the reason’s for the failure of the petition as their quick, aggressive approach.
“It’s just gonna take time and we were being aggressive, we were eager,” Byrd said.
AP Bio teacher Darcee Durham acted with administration to deal with several student and parents complaints and a petition about the amount of curriculum covered in class last year.
“Concerns were brought to the forefront and conversations were had with me and the administration some of it started on my end initiating that and what was going on and there was dialogue,” Durham said. “We dealt with the situation and we made parent contacts.”
The outcome of the petitions and complaints encouraged conversation, but ultimately only nine students students felt comfortable taking the AP Bio exam.
“It was dealt with, and we did what we could, and it was what it was, and we couldn’t really change it,” Durham said.
Uwobahorana experienced a similar response by faculty when he told a staff member about his teacher using a slur in class.
The staff member to whom Uwobahorana reported the incident sat in on the class the following Monday to observe the teacher who reportedly made the offense, but there was no investigation. The allegedly offending teacher suffered no consequences for what Uwobahorana reported.
“[The staff member] told me to hold on to it and [that the staff member] would investigate it and talk to more students and see what they heard so like it’s not just me just saying it,” Uwobahorana said. “Everybody else in class heard it so I’m not here making up lies about him because he’s a good teacher. I have no reason to do that but I heard it.”
Another senior in the same class, Sydney Freeman, did not report the incident because she didn’t believe admin would consider the value of what she had to say as a student.
“I didn’t want to report [the incident] to the office because I know that even if thirty students went and reported an incident they would still trust the faculties word over the word of the students,” Freeman said.
Byrd finds it “very difficult” to determine who’s more credible in when a student’s word contradicts a faculty member’s. If the situation cannot be resolved within the classroom, there is a formal complaint form that can be filled out and put on record where admin will get more involved.
Junior band student Sarah Melchner is in the process of formally expressing her views of admin’s decisions to dismiss Toffelmier by writing a letter, but doubts that anything will change.
She is attempting to gain support from parents and the band community to strengthen the student’s voices and, possibly, a petition to have Toffelmier stay.
“[But] at this point I don’t think there’s anything we could do to change anything, and like they’re not gonna change their minds to a bunch of students,” Melchner said. “And really my only thing is that I hope they realize what a loss it’s going to be for Roseville and how much that’s gonna affect students life.”
Byrd has attempted to reach out to concerned people regarding Toffelmier’s dismissal and has also communicated with Toffelmier.
“[I’m] reaching out to people and talking to people,” Byrd said. “I’m starting that process to try and just connect with people and talk to people. Best thing you can do is communicate.”
