New rules chafe Costa Mesa High students

Deirdre Newman

A new administrative regime at Costa Mesa High School has wasted

no time this school year enforcing a series of rules that were

previously ignored and instituting new restrictions, causing angst

among some students in the process.

The enforcement efforts, which presently include locking the

student parking lot gate in the morning and making lunch passes

contingent on good behavior and academics, are mainly a result of

concerns from teachers and other staff wanting to make the campus

safer, said John Garcia, the middle school’s new principal.

Fred Navarro, who is in charge of the high school, is the campus’

other new administrator.

Some students, especially seniors who were looking forward to

enjoying the perks commensurate with their coveted status atop the

student hierarchy, are chafing at the new atmosphere on campus,

equating the environment to being in prison.

“I was expecting this year to be a great year,” said senior Merry

Tungka, 17. “But after all this stuff, it sort of puts down the happy

seniors, when we’re all locked inside. We should have more privileges

than the underclassmen.”

As a result of some heated student forums in the past few days,

the new principals say they are amenable to making adjustments in

some of the controversial policies.

“We’ll tweak and modify as needed, based on student input as well

[as staff],” Garcia said. “We’re listening to the students and what

their concerns are. Our biggest concern is our students are safe and

secure.”

One of the most contentious changes is the locking of the student

parking lot gate at 7:40 a.m. every morning--around the same time the

bell rings for the start of school. Garcia said this is to combat a

perennial problem of student tardiness and to make the campus more

secure.

Some students see it as an infringement of their rights, however.

“I don’t think they have the right [to lock the gate],” said

senior Michael Simonoff, 18. “People are late for various reasons. It

seems like it’s not the best way to solve the problem.”

In fact, it has caused another problem -- some students not going

to class at all because they just turn around and leave once they see

the gate locked, said Tungka, who has admitted doing this herself.

“[My parents] disagree with me not going,” Merry said. “They want

to talk to the school about this. Our parents have no say in this

either.”

After the student forums, Garcia said the administration will

review the policy with leaders on campus to see if tardiness can be

discouraged through other means. Newport Harbor High School, for

instance, uses Saturday school and parent intervention to deal with

tardy students.

Another controversial policy is the senior exit project, which is

required for graduation for this year’s seniors. Although the school

board mandated the projects in 2000 and other schools had already

implemented them, some Costa Mesa High School seniors complained they

were assigned from out-of-the-blue this fall.

In addition to a presentation at the end of the year, the projects

require a 15-hour internship. Some students say they don’t have time

to complete a project with myriad after-school activities and

question its value.

“They’re just making it harder to graduate,” said Corey Grosklos,

17. ‘It’s not really improving education.”

Since the senior projects are required for graduation, the

administration can’t tweak these. But it will look into setting up

support systems to make the requirements easier to attain, Garcia

said.

“We understand that seniors are very, very anxious about this and

we are going to do our best to work with them every way we can,”

Garcia said.

Another issue crimping some students’ style is new criteria for

lunch passes. Although Costa Mesa High School has been a closed

campus for some time, the rules hadn’t been enforced recently.

Previously, juniors and seniors who had parent authorization could

leave for lunch and then not come back to school if they didn’t have

a sixth period, Garcia said.

Now, the lunch passes are a privilege for those in good academic

and behavioral standing, which for seniors means having passed their

proficiency tests.

Since the next round of proficiencies aren’t given until November,

some students resent the fact that they are stuck on campus for

lunch.

“It puts more burden on the student,” Simonoff said.

While the administration does not intend to back down from this

requirement, it will see if anything can be done to expedite the

process of getting the passes, Garcia said.

At the least, the open forums appear to have enabled the students

to have their complaints heard. Ellen Butler, advisor of a school

club called Advocates for Student Rights, said she has been mostly

impressed with the students’ probing of the rationale behind the new

policies.

“I think it’s good that they are willing to speak up and not just

be steamrolled over,” Butler said. “I think it’s fantastic that they

are willing to raise their voice and say, ‘How come, how come?

Explain this.’”

While the new principals have heard their share of complaints,

there are some students who admire their tenacity to put some teeth

into the school’s policies.

“I think people need to shut up and obey the rules or get out,”

said Christian Miranda, 17. “[The rules] will actually help us

because we have to live by society’s rules, not our own free will.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.