The Rocklin Unified School District has provided a one-time $500,000 grant. Assistant Principal Mrs. Penelope Shelton helps lead the school in making financial decisions. With more than 20 years of teaching experience, Shelton balances student needs, campus pride and safety.

One of the concerns is safety, which can be seen in numerous electronic fob locks at the school malfunctioning, raising security concerns with teachers.

“We’ve had ongoing issues with our fob key locks for years … Many are old or taken from other schools, and the motors are faulty. Repairs often meant ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul,’ but that’s no longer sustainable — for instance, in the gym, only one exterior door still works,” Shelton said.

Bathrooms are another major concern, with students noticing the problem, emphasizing how it affects their overall opinion of the school’s focus.

“The bathrooms always have no soap, and the door locks are broken. It kind of makes me feel unsafe to use them,” Lincoln Hanson said.

Bathroom conditions have become a recurring complaint among students.

“Some of the mirrors are gone, some bathrooms don’t have soap, and some doors don’t have locks. It just feels like they don’t really care about student privacy,” Carson Kerby said.

Their voices don’t go unnoticed by the school office, which has noticed several problems with the bathrooms and is prioritizing these repairs.

“What we have definitely heard from student responses is that money towards bathroom improvements is definitely something that our students value. They deserve to have functional bathrooms. So that is something that [Principal] Mr. [Scott] Collins and I have moved up to the top priority as well,” Shelton said.

The $500,000 grant is a single payment from the district strictly for school building improvements, and follows in the footsteps of previous efforts to update school facilities.

Above all else, student concerns play a distinct role in choosing how the money is spent. 

“[Student voices are] absolutely 100% taken into consideration. Now, there are certain things that students have mentioned in their comments that are well beyond the $500,000 scope. So, of course, those are things that we wish we could do … Making sure that we have functional equipment for some of our sporting events, making sure that we have an inviting space that our students are proud of when they walk into the gym or walk into the theater. Those would be some priorities for our students,” Shelton said.

Aside from students, teachers recently had the opportunity to indicate their own preferences on what projects should be funded through a survey at a staff meeting. 

“We were presented with a list of projects being proposed, and theater was one of them. I think it’s great if something comes out of it—whether that’s upgrades to lighting, electrical, sound, or even the lobby. But I’m skeptical about how it will actually be conducted, based on a decade of seeing various projects come and go,” said theatre teacher Mr. Josh Ansley.

“I’m optimistic but realistic. In the survey, I actually ranked some other projects on campus as higher priorities than theater. At the same time, the theater isn’t just for us—it’s used by the community, outside groups, and even the district for presentations. That makes it complicated.”

Shelton also brought up the potential for community partnerships to stretch dollars further, citing examples from nearby Rocklin High School.

“We are taking into consideration of staff, of students, of parents, the community, in order to see where the value is and what is prioritized amongst all of those groups. We actually get a lot done the more that our parents and our community members understand what our needs are,” Shelton said. “We would love to partner with more community members in order to get some of these projects done.”

The grant money is also being considered to fix issues that don’t necessarily affect current student life, but school pride instead.

“[The] lasting impact would be to put the Whitney logo actually on the large gym… that mural could be up there for the next 50 years … even when you guys are bringing your kids back to Whitney High School events, you would say, ‘Oh yeah, I remember when we did that, ‘” Shelton said.

While safety and facility improvements are top priorities,  the money spent must also affect future generations. The choice ultimately rests on the most prominent needs and the effect it will have on the campus’s legacy.

Shelton said, “We want to impact the most students… Whether it’s locks that make teachers feel safer or a mural that makes students feel proud, these improvements should last well into the future.” 

by SIMON ARAGOZA, SAMUEL DALMAU & OGECHI NKADI