'Our chance to do some good change': 19-year-old is elected to Yuba City USD school board
Dec. 8—When 19-year-old Harjot Kaur was a student at Yuba City High School, she felt students' voices were not heard or well represented by the Yuba City Unified School District Board of Trustees. After winning a close race for the board's Area 4 seat, Kaur plans to bridge the gap between her peers, community and fellow board members.
During her time as a student at Yuba City Unified schools, Kaur recalled seeing significant disagreements between the board, district staff members, parents and students, especially during the 2016 teachers strike and later the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It was the constant disappointment from the board not listening to us. There was a lot of animosity between the board and speakers and students. They didn't want to hear us out especially during the strike," she said. "Things needed to change. ... I felt like the board was unprepared in some ways when COVID hit. As a junior, we didn't find out if we were going back to school until two or three days before school started."
One of Kaur's biggest goals as an incoming board member is to involve Yuba City's Punjabi community in actions the district makes for its schools and students. Growing up, language barriers, mistranslations and a lack of resources prevented her parents and other members of the community from fully engaging with their children's education.
"I know I wanted my parents to be involved in my education, but because there were no resources for them, it was hard." Kaur said. "I want to be that resource for the community."
Due to the district's decision to redistrict school attendance zones, Trustee Area 4 lacked an incumbent candidate to run in this year's election. Kaur saw this as an opportunity to represent the voices of young people and the Punjabi community in the education system now rather than later in her career.
"I felt like this was the time. We need to do it, especially because it's a new district. Since it's new and there was no incumbent, I felt like this was my one time to run, and I could do it," she said.
Kaur said that getting people to vote was one of the most challenging aspects of running for the school board, but she also experienced scrutiny from others in her community due to her age.
"I'm a younger woman in the Punjabi community. There was a lot of scrutiny from the older men. We are moving past that, but culturally, there's 'Oh, she's a kid. She's 19 years old. What does she know?' But I know what students want. I'm more connected with the youth. I know what they need. We're pushing forward to say that I'm not just a kid in your eyes," Kaur said.
She plans to have regular conversations with students to better represent their interests in board decisions. She believes that being closer in age to current students will make her more approachable to students expressing their concerns to the board. Kaur also wants to establish more proactive, accessible mental health resources for Yuba City Unified students.
As she moves forward with her position, Kaur wants to increase parent and student involvement with district actions.
"Their kids' education is important, and it's time that we start getting their voices involved as well," she said.
Kaur is also a remote student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, majoring in legal studies and education. As she continues to pursue her education, she hopes to apply the skills and concepts gathered from her courses to her work for the district. She believes that this will give her more hands-on experience to further different aspects of her career.
Kaur will be sworn in as a Yuba City Unified School District board member on Dec. 13.
"Times are changing, but if you won't change with them, it's time to leave. ... We have a new board. It's our chance to do some good change," she said.
