(FREMONT, CA.) – On Mar. 30, many students from middle and high schools across Fremont approach the podium during public comment at the Charter Advisory Committee meeting.
All address the committee with one purpose: to fight for the right of students to elect their school board members.
The Bay Area is no stranger to student participation in civic and political matters, as students in Union City, CA. and San Ramon, CA. congregated in early 2026 to protest the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Founder and President of Fremont Youth Vote (FYV) Shon Khisti is the first of these students to speak during public comment.
First introducing FYV as an organization dedicated to changing the age for school board elections to 16, Khisti delivers a number of arguments that are later added to and expanded upon by his colleagues.
“The average California teenager spends 1,260 hours [per year] in school, [...] a system governed by the school board,” he says. “No one is more immediately and personally affected by these decisions than the students living under them.”
According to Khisti, the large amount of time students spend in school means that they best understand the problems and topics occurring within it.
He argues that they should therefore have the right to elect those who govern so much of their time and who have the power to improve or damage the academic side of teenagers’ lives.
Khisti ends his speech with a call to action for the committee, urging them to make a recommendation to lower the voting age for school board elections to 16.
“We are asking for democracy to do what it is designed to do; represent the people [that are] most affected by the decisions being made. This committee has the chance to grant us this right and make this recommendation. [...] The students of Fremont are ready.”
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=lts4wTki9IjKDZl0
One middle school student expands on the capability of students to elect school board officials.
Instead of citing their ethos when it comes to discussing school policy while living through it themselves, she brings up the many other responsibilities of 16-year-olds.
"A 16-year-old today is driving on our roads, taking standardized tests, [participating in] speech and debate, and doing [different] civically engaged things, so why can't we trust them to make a decision that affects their future?”
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=lts4wTki9IjKDZl0
Approaching the matter from a more logical point of view, Legislative Director of FYV Rhoda Park shares the actions of others and his own observations in order to support FYV’s cause.
"Lowering the voting age to sixteen for the school board is not some radical idea, [...] it's a tested one. [...] Charter cities like Berkeley, Oakland, and Albany have already taken this step. And studies on youth civic engagement have found that youth voting gives students [...] higher civic engagement throughout their lives.”
Elaborating on Khisti’s assertion that students would know enough about school policy to vote for those who create the policies, Park cites his own experience in speech and debate.
He explains that in this program, students are expected to thoroughly research and understand the topics they discuss and debate. He also explains that these topics include the same matters that school board members discuss and vote on.
He uses this experience to assert that students are fully capable of being civically informed and responsible enough to participate in school board elections.
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=lts4wTki9IjKDZl0
Ultimately, the committee addresses none of the arguments made by these students, nor do they comment on their cause.
If you have any questions, please email me at madison.v@lead4earth.org or comment below.
0
0
Comments