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Students urge district not to merge music classes, warn Wi‑Fi weaknesses cost testing and learning time
Summary
Students told the board that proposed merges or cuts to instrumental music classes would damage program quality and student opportunity, and warned the district’s Wi‑Fi and contingency plans must be prioritized after this week’s outage forced AP exams to be rescheduled.
Two students told the Brea Olinda Unified School District board during public comment that proposed changes to elective and arts offerings would harm specialized programs and student opportunities, while also linking recent testing disruptions to incomplete network infrastructure.
Tyler Park, a Brea Linda High School sophomore, said administrators had described proposed changes as scheduling adjustments but that he had been informed some ensembles faced permanent merging or cancellation. “Trying to merge jazz band or color guard with any other ensemble … just leads to classes being less productive every day,” Tyler said. He argued ensembles require separate rehearsal time, instrumentation and curriculum, and that combining them “sends a message … that if we don't have big numbers, we just don't matter.”
Andrew Andrade, a 12‑year district student and AP test‑taker, told the board the outage earlier this week showed the district had underinvested in Wi‑Fi and backups while purchasing visible infrastructure. “The district is spending $555,000 to build new fences at BOHS … and $135,000 for new TVs from the money given to them by the California Title IV education grant,” he said, arguing those expenditures should be balanced with stronger core network investment and contingency plans to avoid exam disruptions.
District staff did not dispute the students’ descriptions of proposed scheduling options; Superintendent Brenda Leon and administrators invited follow‑up meetings with school leaders to clarify program plans. Trustees asked staff to have Principal Davis or district curriculum leaders follow up with Tyler and to have Technology Director Josh Barton clarify Wi‑Fi upgrade plans in a separate discussion.
Board members praised the students for speaking up and asked staff to report back on both program staffing options and technical timelines so the board can consider priorities alongside scheduled facility projects.
