Why is the Peer Leaders class being removed?

By Kimberly B., with additional reporting by Rene H.

Students face the loss of an elective class that many say helped them find their voice, develop leadership skills, and build meaningful connections.

For years, the Peer Leaders class has offered students an opportunity to take initiative and support their peers through mentorship, tutoring, and community building. But starting next school year, Peer Leaders will be gone despite a petition organized by students, and supported by parents and teachers, to keep the class. 

According to Principal Sean Gosselin, part of the reason for not offering the class next year is to improve students’ math and English test scores. 

He also said, “Right now, because of class size reduction and reduction in budget, we need to cut someone. And, that was one class that is not necessarily going to happen next year.”

More than 240 students, staff, and parents signed the petition, which explained the importance of Peer Leaders and asked supporters to “fight back and keep our class.”

A copy of the petition, which is attached below, was delivered to Mr. Gosselin on Friday, March 21st after school. 

However, according to the students and the Peer Leaders teacher, the principal never responded to the petition. 

Peer Leaders teacher Ms. Joana Castañeda said, “they haven’t heard anything from Mr. Gosselin. It was handed directly to him, but he hasn’t said anything to the students or anything.”

When asked about this decision, Principal Gosselin said, “I didn’t receive that many letters.”

He elaborated, saying, “I had one petition that came to me and it was given to me at dismissal on Friday. And then I looked at it, I considered it, but the petition was asking for Ms. Castañeda to be the teacher and having Peer Leaders, and the decision has been made that we were not going to have Peer Leaders or Leadership [classes] in core classes that is English and math because we need to increase the data.”

The Peer Leaders class wasn’t just another elective. According to Ms. Castañeda, who also teaches 10th grade Geometry, it was a space that helped students grow not just academically, but socially and emotionally. 

“The peer leaders help with peer mentorship, peer tutoring…they help build community through different community building activities, games, stuff like that,” she said. “They also help with more of the life-guiding process such as the digital portfolio.”

Unlike the Leadership class, which Ms. Castañeda says is more focused on “school needs,” Peer Leaders prioritized the needs of students. However, Leadership class will still be offered next year.

“They won’t be able to build any of those skills that I mentioned earlier such as communication, leadership skills, team building, collaboration, mentoring and peer support,” she said.

According to Mr. Gosselin, part of the decision to cut Peer Leaders is intended to improve academic outcomes in core subjects such as math and English.

“With Ms. Castañeda teaching Peer Leaders, it’s taking a line of math,” he explained. “We need to increase our grades in every English and math, mostly. So, every English and math teachers are going to teach only math and English.”

Gosselin said “That’s going to increase our data.”

Ms. Castañeda stated that Mr. Gosselin told her that, “Math teachers and English teachers were only going to teach their content area and they weren’t going to teach any electives.”

“That was the reasoning that was provided to me, and this was after a meeting I had with him where he wanted to know my 10th grade Math teacher’s plan of action to improve our CATS iReady data,“ she said.

The priority, he said, is also to make CATS a Tier 1 school, which is a type of classification for LAUSD schools that is based on students’ test scores among other factors. Currently, the school is labeled a Tier 2 school. 

“So if you have less people in the classroom, more direct teaching from the teacher, more supervision and more support. Then, it’s going to result in positive data. It’s not just practice but more intentional teaching,” he said. 

Mr. Gosselin offered an alternative for Peer Leaders. 

“If we want to keep Peer Leaders, it would be to have it as a club. And, whoever wants to sponsor that class can be done through the club,” he said. “Peer leaders can still do some activities throughout the school, improving culture through the club.”

But, many see this as a downgrade rather than a solution. 

For junior Steven B., who has been a Peer Leader for one year, the end of Peer Leaders feels like loss of a safe space. 

“I feel disappointed that it’s not coming back,” he said. “It’s fun connecting with the kids here at CATS and the people inside that class. With it gone, it’s like disconnecting from people I have bonds with.”

He also expressed skepticism about the reasoning behind the cut. “To be honest, I don’t believe that [about the budget cuts]. I heard he said it was unnecessary.”

Senior Emily B., who has been a Peer Leader for two years, echoed those concerns. “It’s honestly saddening. Just knowing the reason as to why it’s not coming back— it just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “ We’ve grown so much over the past two years.” 

Ms. Castañeda has seen that growth first hand. This year, it doubled in size— from 15 students to nearly 30. That shows students want to take this class, she said. 

“It is something that has been emotional for me because not only have they grown but I have also grown as well,” she added.

She also worries about lost opportunities for her juniors and lower classmen who wanted to join. “They won’t be able to build any of those skills that I mentioned earlier such as communication, leadership skills, team building, collaboration, mentoring and peer support.” she said.

While Mr. Gosselin emphasized the potential for Peer Leaders to continue as a club, many argue it won’t have the same impact. 

Senior Joshua A., CEO of Peer Leaders said, “I just think it wouldn’t work as well as having it as an actual class. With the club, we have to decide on a date where most people are free. And, people have their own lives aside from school. It’s harder to show up.”  

One junior, who preferred to stay anonymous for this story, said, “not only did we sign the petitions, we also sent emails to two of his bosses.” 

The student also added that, “everytime we sent [the petition], he wouldn’t reply, he wouldn’t even look at them, he wouldn’t talk about it. Like, I felt like we weren’t being heard.” 

Mr. Gosselin further explained why he did not respond to the petition.

He said, “Was there any meeting request? No. Was there any discussion? No. It was just dropped on the table. The person who gave it to me said, “look at that over the weekend.”

“It didn’t feel that it was anything that I needed to discuss. It was just like, if it’s important, what do you want to do? You come here and you’re going to request an appointment,” he said.

Not only will CATS be parting ways with Peer Leaders, but we’re also saying goodbye to Ms. Castañeda, who decided to transfer to a new school. 

“Me leaving is mainly tied to my values not matching directly with the school’s values,” she said. “The way or the path the school is taking is not where I envisioned myself. So, I’m going to a school that matches my values and beliefs.”

Editor’s note: The reporter of this article signed the petition, along with the journalism advisor Ms. Martinez, who sent an email in support.