The following are four examples of some petitions to watch out for in the upcoming November elections that may concern or affect students. Whether you can vote or not, it’s always good to know what’s going on locally.

Repeal Gas Tax:

Proposition 6 on the ballot this year calls to repeal the gas tax currently in California, the tax and fees that were enacted in 2017 to help repair roads. The 2017 imposition raised the tax by about 12 cents to total around 73.82 cents per gallon.

• Pro: Would repeal the 12 cent tax imposed on gasoline last year as well as the 20 cent tax on diesel.
• Against: The taxes go to helping fix roads and other things through the Road Repair and Accountability Act.

Daylight Savings:

Proposition 7 on this year’s ballot calls for year-long daylight savings time, aka getting rid of time changes. This would make us permanently in the “spring forward” and winter morning sunrises would be as late as 8 or 8:30 a.m. in California.

• Pro: Californians would no longer worry about losing sleep over changing clocks and the age-old WWI tradition meant to save energy in the wartime. We would permanently be forward one hour.
• Against: It could be dangerous to walk to school when it is so dark in winter. The sun may rise as late as 9 or 9:30 a.m., that is well into the school day.

School Start Times:

Want to move school start time to later? This is not on the ballot, but it went all the way to the governor and then got vetoed. If you want to support this initiative you can sign the online petition or speak to/ email our local representatives such as Superintendent Dr. Ben Churchill.

• Pro: Students could get more sleep in the mornings.
• Against: The later start time would move back extracurriculars and could impact other activities.

Halloween:

Petition to move to fourth Saturday of the month. This is not on the ballot yet; it is just a petition at this point.

• Sponsored by Costume companies.
• Pro: Teachers would not have to move the lesson schedule around as much to allow a non-homework night or for Senior Ditch Day. Also, the night could start earlier and can go later when there is no school the next day.
• Against: This initiative is sponsored by the costume companies. When it is on a weekday, fewer kids can go out which results in fewer kids buying costumes.

These topics were specially chosen based on what would interest Sage Creek students, so take a look at what is on the ballot this midterm election and what is happening in CUSD. Whether you can vote or not, let your voice be heard this voting season.