The Shoemaker Bugle

By Cesar Martinez

Over the years, John Glenn High School has dropped in overall students & transfers, while tardiness and absences have increased. Just last year, there were a total of 991 students enrolled, but we currently have only 861 students. This is a 130 student drop.

There has been a trend in the past few years of absences and tardies. The amount of students that are tardy to classes have increased a lot since last year. This year, only 2 or 3 students have been sent to El Camino (continuation high school) because they are crowded with students from other campuses. The only thing that has stayed level is the overall transfers to other schools.

A big consequence of student attendance dropping is the school doesn’t get as much funding as before, which ends up forcing the school to cut teachers, courses, and programs. So, students aren’t the only thing that have decreased over the years– teachers have also been laid off, or they were forced to transfer to another school or district. For example, as recently as the 2017-2018 school year, there were nine English teachers; however, because of attendance droppage, today there are only four English teachers.

One way for us to stop students and teachers from leaving Glenn is to reach out to the community and show them why they should come to Glenn more than anywhere else, like Norwalk High or another district. Students should care about better enrollment and attendance because we will get more funding for the school, which means we will have more activities and more school attraction. With more students attending, we could offer courses that other schools have, like culinary arts, wood shop, automotive classes, more music, drama, and art choices, and further pathways that would benefit students in their lives. Sports would also be more competitive, which also brings in more money.