The cramped library overflowed with passionate voices of students, family, and faculty alike. Instantaneously, the sentiments of the room shifted from demanding to offended, as a School Board member cut off a community member, stating that the allotted time for comments had ended. At the board meeting on April 9th, 2024, the fate of the Career and College Center remained unclear. Months later, the community continues facing uncertainty regarding reimplementation.
The College and Career (CC) Center aided students in career planning, college application tutoring, and countless other services.
However, the Board cut the program last spring after the grant funding ended.
The Board had to be conservative when deciding the future of the CC Center since the state does not announce the district’s budget until June.
The lack of proactivity toward securing the CC Center has angered the AHS community.
“They need to understand that it’s not just affecting just the students,” senior Kaia Caldwell said. “It’s affecting everything.”
The Board began advertising for a new districtwide CC Coordinator in late September.
“[CC Coordinator] is not tied to a specific grant and will not be at risk of elimination unless we enter into another economic crisis,” Director of Fiscal Services Cindy Vickers said.
They added two new grant-funded positions: Career and College Guidance Technicians. Although the reimplementation seems encouraging for the future, the lack of transparency from the Board has overwhelmed upperclassmen.
“The world is giant and there’s a lot of options,” Caldwell said. “And I’m not prepared to go off and be an adult.”
Darcy Robins worked as the CC Coordinator at Arcata High for years, accumulating vast knowledge and resources for college and career pathways.
“If you’re looking to get someone to review your essays, to review your application, work on your list of activities, you’re looking at hundreds of dollars, and [CC coordinator] Darcy Robins was a free resource for that,” alumni Riley Ellyson said.
Robins’s devotion to her role resulted in the immense success of her students—getting students from high school to top universities.
“There is a lot of on-the-job learning,” Robins said, “I hope whoever becomes the new C&CC coordinator loves the position and stays for many years.”
