CHSW Senior Class President Says Admin. Needs to Improve Communication with Students

By James Sweeney

My name is James Sweeney and I am the Senior Class President at Cranston High School West. I am writing this piece to display my opinion on the recent announcement by the Cranston School District that Seniors will not be exempt of snow make up days this year. I hope that my opinion and information in this piece can be showed to the public to give students, parents, citizens of Cranston and others our view as students on this issue.

Being Class President, I am a Representative of over 400 students, and my job is to be their voice on matters such as this. I find this announcement disturbing in several different ways that goes beyond just making up school days.

I love Cranston West, and I have shown that over my Senior Year by dedicating my time to show support to my classmates, faculty and staff, administrators and city officials through sporting events, making speeches and presentations, etc. By doing this, I have been able to witness the ways of the school system and how things work. I have learned the true importance of communication and transparency. The administration at Cranston West does an amazing job of communicating with its students to keep us in the loop in order for us to remain on the same page. Yet, I have failed to see that same transparency when it comes to our highest levels of our education. This is one example of several that the communication in our education system is failing students. We are not ignorant to what is going on in education. The state of Rhode Island and it's highest education officials are continuously taking away more freedoms from students and believe rules designed like this will go right over our heads and we will be taken advantage of again. Well, in my opinion this is the last straw. Seniors have been told the entire year that we would not have to make up cancelation days and now, less than four weeks before the end of school, we are finally told that the rule was changed? 

Quite Frankly I could care less about making up the snow days. But the fact that the people running our education system believe that they can walk all over students and take things away from us without informing us in a timely manner is beyond wrong. The student body needs a voice and I am willing to take on that role for all of the high school students in Rhode Island who are prisoners to this pathetic system of zero transparency.  We have just as much of a voice as everyone else. These education officials are toying with our futures day in and day out and expect us to just accept it. Well, it ends now.

I plea to my classmates from Cranston West, Cranston East, and other students across Rhode Island to stand up for themselves against our education leaders on issues such as this.

I love my school, the city of Cranston,  and the state of Rhode Island. But, I am truly disappointed by the growing lack of communication by our educators toward our students. This is about principle. Not about making up snow days. This is about a bunch of kids who felt that after 12 years of education, on the final path toward graduation, that feel as if we earned the right to avoid make up days at the end of the year. But, also about a group of kids who will become adults next year and will have to enter the real world, who felt as if we have earned the respect at 18 years old to at least be told in a respectable time frame about something that has such a major impact on students lives such as this.

I am a proud supporter of Cranston West, it's administration, faculty and staff, and city officials. But today, I am very disappointed in not only the states new rule, but the manner in which they told us. I hope this message is passed along and we can avoid future instances such as this.

Thank you,
James Sweeney
Senior Class President, Cranston High School West