As a leadership student who regularly helps plan events, activities and fundraisers for the school, the restrictions the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has placed on schools district wide has negatively impacted the outcome of these plans heavily.
When I was helping plan out this school year’s fundraisers, our leadership class collectively agreed that grams would be a smart, fun way to help fundraise for our classes and the school. However, once we were hit with the news that we couldn’t put any sort of candy or snacks such Kit Kats, Skittles and M&M’s unless LAUSD determined that it was nutritious or safe such as snacks from specific brands like Kellog’s, PopChips and Del Monte.
It made it much more difficult to come up with a gram that would keep potential students buying since candy wasn’t available. Although we came up with the alternative of getting several trinkets to help make our grams more appealing, it was still upsetting having to accommodate in order to align with LAUSD’s expectations
The district has set constant restrictions to help improve schools districtwide. From banning cellphones on campuses to strict nutrition standards, LAUSD school communities have been affected by these limitations placed by the district. With the purpose of promoting a healthy, safe and social environment, these various restrictions imposed by LAUSD do the complete opposite.
Although I understand that LAUSD is trying to promote a positive districtwide, these limitations are not the solution. Having to work around these restrictions has caused issues such as fundraisers not having a positive turnout, events being canceled or pushed back most of the time and activities not being as enjoyable.
Leadership strives to make our school a more positive environment, but it’s almost impossible to do so with these limitations in place.
Due to all of the restrictions set, It’s beyond exhausting to have to constantly come up with alternatives for activities, fundraisers and events for the school community to enjoy. I wish that we as a leadership class didn’t have to tiptoe around all these restrictions just to plan out a decent activity for our school to enjoy. LAUSD must be more lenient with their restrictions in order for school communities to truly thrive.
