Dear readers of The Lowell,

Rae Wymer first began investigating Lowell’s budget during her sophomore year. While doing so she discovered Lowell’s overreliance on AP funding — that these district funds were paying for more than just extra teacher preps; they were propping up a whole host of course offerings. Her extensive research revealed a budgetary house of cards. Much has changed since Rae first initiated her research: a pandemic hit, Lowell got a new principal, and house of cards is about to fall down. Our March cover story, “Cuts to the community,” by Rae, Kelcie Lee, and Chloe Chon highlights the projected impacts of cuts in Lowell’s funding on students and teachers. It also explores the long-term systemic issues that led up to this cut and what it will mean for Lowell’s future. 

Writing and editing this newsmagazine’s cover story has been one of our most personal experiences as student journalists. Journalism is one of the programs at risk of disappearing due to the budget cuts. It’s been hard to report objectively on an issue that directly affects the future of a program that we all have poured ourselves into for years.

As co-Editors-in-Chief, Lowell’s journalism program has been the most fulfilling part of our high school experiences. We have gotten to work with some of the most intelligent and thoughtful people at our school. The hours spent in the Journ room, laughing about spread design mishaps. The collaborative thrill of brainstorming sessions. Referencing old manuals from former generations of editors. The whole staff huddled in the editors’ room, copyediting our magazine together before we send it off to our publisher. These experiences are the reasons we get up and go to school each morning. 

When we talk about these budget cuts, it is easy to get caught up in the numbers of the classes and teachers lost and see this as an issue that can be explained like an equation. But these are real lives and communities impacted. No student should be in a position where we lose the programs that make us empathetic people, that allow us to discover our passions and future ambitions. Whatever happens, the Lowell community needs to come together and support each other. 

 

Editors-in-Chief,

Sarah Liu and Rae Wymer