On Tuesday, February 20th, 2018, the Taft Union High School Board of Trustees held the highest-attended board meeting of the year. All board members were present as well as Superintendent Blanca Cavazos. Many concerned students, staff members, athletes, and parents also attended the meeting.

The first thing that was on the agenda was the 2017 Teacher of The Year Award, presented by Mary Alice Finn, Taft High’s principal. It was awarded to Visual and Performing Arts teacher Sophie Rasmussen. Finn congratulated Rasmussen on her excellence as a teacher and her service as a member to both the school and the community. Finn stated, “She is a wonderful addition to our staff. She is always willing to help kids and is regularly here after hours both inside and outside the classroom, and just does her best every single day for all our students…We appreciate it and say, thank you.”

After a warm round of applause for Rasmussen, President of the Board John Kopp spoke briefly on some of the concerning matters that have loomed over Taft High since the beginning of the school year. Kopp voiced his concerns on the issue: “I was grieved to learn what I have learned about the financial position of Taft High and, in a generation, we have never seen the kind of financial issues we’re confronting here at Taft High.” After voicing his grievances of what has become of the district’s finances, Kopp stated that the school is having to cut over three million dollars yearly from the district’s budget; as Kopp put it, “Thats a huge chunk of change.”

Kopp went on to state how every option that was presented did not seem more attractive than the other: “We knew, going into this, the decisions being made would have an affect on some of our students and some of our staff–and we knew that no matter what we did or what we affected, there was going to be people who were disappointed and they were not going to agree with our decisions, and that’s the price you pay when you make decisions.”

Once Kopp wrapped up his statement regarding the financial hardships, the board went on to the hearing of the public. The first to come up and speak was Chris Hickernell. Hickernell discussed the possibility of water polo getting cut, voicing his concerns on the matter and focused on questioning the numbers, “I see the revised budget is still pretty high.” Hickernell also spoke about how the other teams on campus are not charged for the use of the facilities they are required to use; as Hikernell stated, “These are lined out to make water polo look like this–a deep sinking hole.” Hickernell also spoke of the team’s hard work and dedication to both the sport and school in great respects. Hickernell’s last statement to the board was this: “I know you guys are going through some financial crises and got a lot of good cuts coming–but the only thing I’m asking is to look at this realistically.”

The next speaker to approach the board was Barbara Johnson; her speech was largely based on the numbers that were put up regarding the water polo cost report. Johnson began her speech by talking about how water polo has affected her son in such a positive way and what he has gained from playing. Johnson then went into the costs, such as heating and the chemicals needed for the pool. Johnson did state that, in the report, costs for the heating of the pool were a total of $63,500 for five months and questioned the accuracy of those costs and the fact

that water polo usage was not that length of time. Johnson said, “that the total costs for transportation are incorrect,” making the total costs per year incorrect along with the costs per athlete and per season to go along with them. To finish off her speech, Johnson had this to say to the board: “This financial report for the Taft High water polo team seems very biased, it’s completely inconsistent, inaccurate, and full of holes and, as a school, someone should be embarrassed of these reports. It’s not fair to the kids to cut something based on false numbers. I respectively ask you as a board to perform your due diligence. Research. Do the math. And please revisit this issue because this financial report that’s posted on the Taft High website doesn’t add up.”

Student athletes Jake Johnson and Zane Martin also spoke in defense of their team and sport. Jake also brought a letter from TUHS graduate, class of 2017, former water polo player Sam Barnes. In the letter, Barnes spoke of how water polo has affected his life and what it taught him. Also Barnes wrote, as stated by Johnson, “Assuming the numbers are still accurate, why does the program need to be completely removed? It seems to me that there should be some effort to reduce the cost to the water polo team to match that of other sports.” Barnes seemed to show great care and concern for his former team, as Barnes stated, “We can reuse suites, travel in vans or carpool, so you don’t have to pay a bus driver, swim in a cooler pool or charge a fee to home games. Give us a chance to work with the same money that every other team gets and we can make the sacrifices necessary to keep the passion we have for this sport alive.” Based on this letter, the ripples of the Board’s decisions are not only felt here at home but in other places, it seems. After the hearing of the public, Kopp remarked; “It will be part of our continuing discussion. We won’t be making any comments tonight.”

Lastly, called to approach the board was Bargaining Unit Representative and CTA President Wes Morris. Morris started off by talking about how the bargaining unit came together and collectively agreed that the most important priority was the students of Taft High. The goal is to try and minimize the impact that the budget crises is having on the students. Morris stated, “I’m glad to report that we’ve made a compromise, accepting six of seven periods–and this was not an easy compromise, and it was very difficult for our members.” Morris also said how losing that extra time was a big blow to the members and teachers at TUHS. Teachers agreed to teach six periods instead of five for no additional compensation. Morris went on to say, “We are here for our students and we do that day in and day out here… Just remember these faces because these are real people with real lives and families to support, and I would hope that as you choose them…you hired them to be here…they’re not just a number and they’re not just a dollar sign, but they are the people that are impacting our students.”