PAUSD has spent the better part of the last couple of decades lurching from one leadership crisis to the next. Former superintendent Don Austin’s tenure was defined by top-down decision making and a persistent disconnect from the community he was hired to serve. Trent Bahadursingh’s brief, turbulent...

Whether it be in high school cliques or college applications, students are often pushed into two categories: creative or analytical, an artist or an engineer. Rarely are the two treated as compatible, but “Project Hail Mary” manages to blend the two into something all audiences can enjoy. Adapted...

As the California primary election approaches on June 2, polling projections have undergone various shifts in light of recent disclosures of candidate behavior. Campaigns reflect political nationalization and have incentivized youth civic engagement. Following the withdrawal of former leading candidate...

For years, Latinos Unidos member junior Keylee Villanueva Dominguez saw Cesar Chavez as a symbol of justice — his name tied to lessons on activism, classrooms and stories of social change. Now, that image feels more complicated. As cities scrub the name “Cesar Chavez” from public surfaces following...

During a Feb. 10 PAUSD board meeting, the Palo Alto Board of Education unanimously opposed a plan to cut non-teacher staff positions in the 2026-27 term. The original plan was proposed by district staff as part of a “zero-based budget” strategy, aimed at addressing rising operational costs such as...

The first time senior Jonathan Miller (name changed to protect the student’s identity) saw the word “homewrecker” was in sixth grade, when he caught a glimpse of a text sent from his mother to his father. At that age, he was unaware of how this foreign word would change his family completely. Later,...

Roaring crowds, defeated champions and victorious “Cinderella” underdog teams define March Madness, the 68-team National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s and Women’s Division 1 basketball tournaments. Behind the tournament’s chaos is the math behind countless bracket predictions: Before...

Choosing a new elective can feel like both a personal and academic gamble before the course selection deadline, a decision compounded by pressures of doubling down on the same subject year after year to build a cohesive resume. However, specializing early often shuts the wide-open door to new, truer...

Empathy was a pillar of my elementary education. The concept wove throughout my classes, from the fictional cautionary tales during read-alouds on the rug to the lived experiences of injustice I learned about in history lessons. We were taught to imagine ourselves in someone else’s place. In a place...

Following the 2014-15 suicide cluster — a group of deaths that occur within a certain time period — at Gunn, students wanted visible, communal ways to honor classmates, including holding memorials on campus, planting trees in remembrance and raising the flag at half- mast. Yet most of these...

The PAUSD Board of Education officially reached an agreement with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Don Austin to terminate his contract during a special closed session board meeting on Feb. 20. Austin will retain advisory ‘Superintendent Emeritus’ status till the end of his term on June 30.  Deputy...