Impact of Tinsley Program

Senior Justun Kim and junior Khrisar Magana, both Paly students who live in East Palo Alto, along with junior Adan Perez, who previously lived there, have all been part of the Tinsley program.

Kim said attending Palo Alto Unified School District offers many advantages over Ravenswood, such as access to high-quality resources like public libraries and advanced academic programs.

“East Palo Alto has so many less facilities compared to Palo Alto, and students there don’t have as many opportunities,” Kim said.

Despite living in East Palo Alto, Kim said he is grateful to be attending Paly through the Tinsley program.

“I got really lucky being able to join the PAUSD, and I feel like I fit in really nicely,” Kim said.

However, not all students have the same experience. Magana said the separation between Tinsley and non-Tinsley students is noticeable.

“We have the same opportunities, but I feel like we tend to group ourselves up a bit … there’s still that separation,” Magana said.

Though the Tinsley program was meant to help students from East Palo Alto, Abrica said it had flaws from the outset.

“The idea was that some kids from Palo Alto, from Menlo Park and from Belmont would also go to the schools in the Ravenswood school district,” Abrica said. “But nobody ever did.”

He also said when the program first started, there was a greater difference between the quality of the school districts, which, in turn, led to the rise in popularity of the Tinsley program. However, as time passes, Lopez said this mentality can be dangerous.

“I think part of the appeal of the Tinsley program is the perception that the school district is so woefully inferior to PAUSD, but the problem with that mentality is it’s sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Lopez said.

In addition, Lopez said state funding for schools is a problem for Ravenswood schools. When fewer students attend high school in Ravenswood, the school does not get as much money.

“We used to have 4000 students. Now we have about 2000. A lot of that has to do with the Tinsley program,” Lopez said. “This (causes) a disparity in resources because as a result of opting your student out, the school loses funding.”

Additionally, Lopez said the Tinsley program hurts the spirit of the city because students are scattered for their education.

“Remember, East Palo Alto, at one point, did not have a high school for 20 plus years,” Lopez said. “Think about the impact that makes when you have your student body scattered in all corners of the county and of the peninsula – the lack of unity, the lack of cohesion, the lack of having a common experience – and how that then troubles the ability to organize civically, to lead, to govern, because everybody has their own story about school.”