San Francisco School Withholds Student-Council Election Results Because They Weren’t Diverse Enough

The principal of Everett Middle School in San Francisco has decided to withhold the results of the school’s student-council elections because the group of students elected wasn’t diverse enough.

Local news source KTVU reports that the election was held on October 10, and that Principal Lena Van Haren sent an e-mail to parents on October 14 informing them that the results would not be released because they didn’t reflect the school’s diversity.

“That is concerning to me because as principal I want to make sure all voices are heard from all backgrounds,” Van Haren told KTVU.

(Irony: All students did have the opportunity to make their voices heard through voting — and refusing to report those results seems more like making sure that they’re not heard.)

According to Van Haren, the student body is made up of approximately 20 percent white students and 80 percent students of color. Seeing as the results have not been released, there is obviously no word on exactly what the specific makeup of the elected council was.

#share#Van Haren added that the fact that the results weren’t released does not mean that they’re “nullifying” the election or saying that it “didn’t count.”

#related#Still, some students are upset. In fact, parent Bianca Gutierrez told KTVU that her seventh-grade son is “discouraged” and “doesn’t even want to be a part of it anymore.”

“That should have been something [discussed] prior to elections and prior to the campaigning process,” Gutierrez said.

Principal Van Haren told KTVU that the school might consider adding positions just so the student council looks more like what she would like it to look like. You know, because student voices are so important.