A petition has been started by a teacher at North Bay Met Academy, one of Windsor’s alternative high school programs, to help save it from impending budget cuts.
Jeremiah Kahmoson, a SPED teacher at North Bay Met, started the petition on change.org after its elimination was floated as part of budget cuts the district was considering in the wake of the governor potentially cutting 10% of school funding. The district had produced a list of possible cuts for the board of trustees to consider, and North Bay Met was on it.
The program has been extremely popular and successful, but its cost has been an issue all along, with the program facing some opposition on the base of its finances when it was moved from pilot status to a permanent program in 2017.
“The Windsor Unified School District board has proposed closing North Bay Met Academy (NBMA) due to budget deficits from COVID-19’s impact on public education. Please support this amazing school by signing this petition to keep NBMA open,” reads the petition. “Serving historically marginalized and under-represented students, NBMA is directly confronting glaring institutionalized inequities, one student at a time. Closing this remarkable school, during a national crisis highlighting social, economic and educational disparities, is absolutely the wrong thing to do.
“North Bay Met gives students hope. It takes kids who have given up, who would likely not graduate or drop out of school and gives them a bright future. The program gives them a chance to learn essential job skills and makes them feel important and knowledgeable. It gives them a chance to positively contribute to their local community,” said the petition.
Kahmoson’s writing includes information about the successes of the program, even when the wider community has faced trauma.
“Over the past year, arguably the hardest ever for Windsor and the greater Sonoma County region, NBMA students have thrived. One hundred percent of the school had professional, off-campus learning experiences, with 78% of them obtaining internship placements. During the COVID pandemic, students completed their work with a 98% attendance rate utilizing technology, social networks and distance learning models well ahead of the curve so many other schools struggle against. For the entire year, NBMA had zero suspensions for behavior. And, 70% of our amazing class of 2020 are headed to Santa Rosa Junior College to continue their education and passions. This is what success looks like. And this is why closing NBMA is unacceptable.”
The petition also includes statements of support from current students, anonymized to protect their identities.
“By the time I got into North Bay Met, I had no real hope anymore of succeeding in school. Within a few days there I felt like I belonged in school for the first time in years. My advisors guide me in a way I can learn, and I am finally getting good grades. I actually look forward to school,” said one 11th grader.
“I don’t do well in a normal classroom environment. I need more flexibility and support. I need people who know me and have the time to be patient with me. Our school is diverse and supportive of everyone’s path,” said one ninth grader.
“The teachers at my school are the reason I was prepared for my job interview. North Bay Met has made me feel like I’m prepared for life after high school and has given me the opportunity to find a career that I’m interested in,” said an 11th grader.
“North Bay Met is the best school I’ve ever been to, and it’s the only school that has ever got me to learn and participate in school activities … I wake up excited for school every day. Closing our school would be heartbreaking for me and all the students that go there,” said an 11th grader.
The petition was originally created to pre-empt any possible votes to cut the program at the June 4 budget workshop. At that meeting, the board declined to vote on any of the items on the list, wanting additional time to consider options and, hopefully, get more information from the state about the true numbers in the budget. A final list of cuts will be presented on June 16 and voted on on June 30.
“The Windsor Unified School Board has postponed any votes on budgetary cuts for the district until June 30. That means your messages of support are working and we are having a positive impact on future of our school,” Kahmoson wrote after the decision.
At the June 9 school board meeting, board president Eric Heitz addressed the potential cuts and the petition.
“I did want to mention that we as trustees have received many letters of support for many programs, including North Bay Met, computer instructors and librarians,” he said. “We do appreciate all the comments, we have read them all, as well as the petition on Facebook for North Bay Met. We love the program, but it’s on a list of many things to be considered and we’ve not yet considered it in depth. There will be more discussions in the future, but we need to clear up a lot of uncertainty with the budget.”
As of 10 a.m. on June 12, the petition had 3,490 signatures.
