Compton : Parents Join Students to Protest Poor Conditions

Parents joined hundreds of students who walked out of Compton High School on Wednesday morning to protest what both groups say are poor educational and physical conditions.

The students, said one parent, Doris Parker, “have the same concerns that we have about the school--not having the equipment and the materials, the conditions in the restrooms, the gangbangers on campus.”

A group of parents has been pressuring the Compton Unified School District to tackle such problems as deteriorating restrooms and classrooms, to get hot water for the gymnasium showers, to develop stronger academic programs, to provide better security, and renovate the school auditorium and the stadium, both of which have been closed because of disrepair.

About 15 parents began picketing at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday outside the district administration building on Tamarind Avenue. At 8:15 a.m. they marched four blocks to the high school where they joined students. The students returned to class about two hours later.

It was the second protest at the school in three days. On Monday, about 50 of the 68 teachers at the school called in sick to protest the lack of a work contract. The teachers and the district have tried unsuccessfully for a year to agree on pay issues.