Student representation at school board meetings, or lack thereof, has always been an issue at C.H.S. Recently, however, a group of students have decided to assemble a student advisory board, where students will rotate school board meeting attendance to represent the student body. The goal of this new organization is to represent the diversity of the school and students’ opinions. Nadiya Khaydari (12) has been a key part of forming the student advisory board and said, “We got the idea of forming the Student Advisory Board from other schools in Virginia that already had implemented this system. We thought that SAB would be a great addition to the school and will be able to represent a wide range of students in our school.”

Nadiya informed the KTR that the SAB will be made up of seven class representatives and three Senior student representatives. Class representatives plan to report on issues to be discussed at School Board meetings to Student Representatives who will serve on the school board. Once the SAB gets up and running current Student Representatives will start recruiting and distributing applications. Announcements will be made about the process and visits to BKT will inform students about the program.

While the SAB doesn’t have all the details of how it will operate flushed out, it is sure to  make a great impact on the school community at C.H.S. Giving students representation at school board meetings will make it easier for students to get their thoughts to people who can actually make a change in the way that Charlottesville City Schools operate.