DCPS SY22-23 Budget Student Testimony before DCPS - Nov 9, 2021
Testimony of Amay Arora, Class of 2024
Good evening, Chancellor Ferebee and the DCPS budget team. My name is Amay Arora, and I am a sophomore at School Without Walls High School who is part of the Student Government Association. Today, I wish to testify on an issue that affects my classmates, teachers, and I daily: equitable access to and the widespread availability of our school WiFi — or the lack thereof.
Ever since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, DCPS has come to devote a greater portion of its budget towards technology that many students otherwise lacked, which prevented them from obtaining the educational content they needed to succeed in class while learning from home. This has been a movement my peers and I have commended, now that 1. 5 years later, I find every classroom I visit in school supplied with many computers for students and staff to use.
However, my greatest concern does not relate to our technology itself but rather our WiFi. Every day I have to work on my computer at school, I overwhelmingly find myself connecting to my phone’s hotspot instead of using the school WiFi networks, dcps-guest or dcps-mesh. Usually, I do not have much luck with either of these networks because the DCPS firewall blocks many websites my classmates and I need to use in class. These include but are not limited to Aspen, DCPS’ online grading system; Canvas, where most of our teachers have posted assignments since quarantine; G Suite products like Google Drive and Gmail; and AP® Classroom, which we need for accessing resources for our Advanced Placement® classes. School computers have been no exception either: DCPS has whitelisted these very same websites on these devices. On top of all of this, the WiFi is not very effective in the school’s basement, where most of the science department is housed. As a result, many Biology, Chemistry, and Physics students have no choice but to use their personal hotspots instead. Then again, not all students may have a phone, ultimately eliminating their access to the WiFi.
In response, School Without Walls has made strides in addressing the problem around DCPS’ WiFi. In fact, 60 high-school students of all grade levels have signed a recent Walls petition on Change.org to make dcps-guest or dcps-mesh usable. Given the increasing student support for improving school WiFi, I propose budgeting at least $500 for the coming 2022– 3023 school year for purchasing new routers for the school basement. I also humbly request DCPS to remove the firewall on academic websites to continue to bolster district-wide student achievement and success.
Otherwise, thank you so much to DCPS for funding the technology its students and teachers alike have needed since quarantine. I hope you consider addressing the issues I have brought up today around our school’s need for better WiFi and, once again, thank you for today’s opportunity to testify!
Testimony of Hugo Rosen, Class of 2024, SGA Co-President
Good evening chancellor, budget representatives, and attendees. My name is Hugo Rosen, Co-President and student at School without Walls High school.
Many of my peers who don’t go to Walls believe that because of our academic success, we are rich. This assumption is not true. In fact, Walls lacks many of the facilities common throughout other high schools, such as a gym and outdoor area. Our building is quite small, smaller than most schools in fact. We don’t have lockers, and our facilities are often shared with the nearby college, GW. In my health class, for example, we do almost everything outside because we do not have a gym or dedicated outdoor area. Despite these challenges, Walls remains one of the best schools in the city for any student to receive an excellent education.
Excellence, however, is not a state of being, and requires active effort to maintain. With limited space, re-opening has been a challenge for many students and teachers at Walls. Throughout the process, we’ve strived to create the safest and best possible environment by providing students with PPE, hand sanitizer, and professional mental health assistance. Without enough funding, however, such and necessary measures may no longer be possible.
Walls is a small school, and therefore uniquely susceptible to budget cuts. One teacher can have a disproportionate impact, as evidenced by the fact that the loss of two french teachers affected most of our French program. I worry that when you, the budget council, looks at my school and sees our academic success, you will decide we no longer need the resources necessary to sustain this success. This assumption is both harmful and incorrect. The goal of any school is to provide its students with the best possible education. Walls Provides one of the best educations possible to students around the city, and aims to make everyone the best that they can be. I urge you, budget team, to consider this legacy, and the resources Walls requires to maintain it, in your new budget proposal. Thank you.