Cynthia Brito Milan isn’t stopping at pushing for the implementation of a no-fail policy at Oak Park River Forest High School due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
“This moment solidifies my support for #abolishingschools,” Milan recently posted on social media.
Milan, who bills herself as a “sophisticated hood philosopher queen,” and members of the Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League (ROYAL) recently held a press conference at the high school demanding that school officials hold an emergency meeting to implement the new grade policy. During the demonstration students openly spoke out about the difficulties they experienced in adapting to remote/hybrid learning as well as COVID recovery.
In addition, some reflected on the stress and trauma now felt by what they deemed a second pandemic of racial violence against people of color in this country.
The press conference was called by black and Latinx students at the school after members previously met with officials from District Board 200 and top school officials to address what they see as a “lack of equity and empathy” regarding this semester’s grades.
“We believe that the administration and the board have the power to issue a resolution for a special COVID grading policy where all students receive credit for their current classes among other demands,” ROYAL said in a press release. “We believe that the board and administration should have been proactive months ago to deter inequitable impact on OPRFHS students of color and those disproportionately impacted by this global crisis. We have been and are still experiencing a once-in-a-century viral pandemic that has impacted people of color the most.”
ROYAL members insist the damage hasn’t been restricted to just learning.
“The second pandemic of having our lives under attack on a daily basis as police continue to murder Black and Latinx people has compounded this trauma,” they said in the release. “Researchers agree that racial violence constitutes a pandemic against people of color yet institutions neglect to consider this violence a crisis.”
Highlighting that a recent survey found nearly three out of every four students or 73% said that e-learning policies have added more stress/pressure on their education, ROYAL members are hoping to have a new grading system put in place at least over the short term.
“We don’t agree with the high school’s decision to maintain an A through F grading scale,” they said in the release. “We have had family members pass away and have been severely affected by COVID. Many of our parents are essential workers who have had to put their life on the line so that society can continue functioning. Many of us have been sick ourselves. All of us have had to go through a year of online schooling and some form of online or hybrid schooling this semester.”
In addition to a no-fail policy, ROYAL is seeking a commitment from the school board that all students receive credit for their current classes, all seniors graduate with 'Bridge Cash Scholarship Pandemic Assistance,' students be given credit for taking part in mental health and healing activities, and a vow that the school will work with ROYAL "as a student community partner where ROYAL shall be given the power to implement recommendations and hold OPRFHS accountable for learning through the COVID19 pandemic and the US racial violence pandemic. ”
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