Technology High School is a magnet school for science, technology, engineering and math located on the Sonoma State University campus. SSU is an integral partner with Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District for our school. This partnership is a direct influence of Tech High’s rating in the top 3% of California post secondary schools with an Academic Performance Index Score of 920— the highest in Sonoma County and every adjacent county.

Its inception came from a collaborative and imaginative venture on the part of forward thinking individuals as a RCHS program. It was initiated in 1995 by the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District, Sonoma State University, Hewlett Packard and the Autodesk foundation and began in 1999. In 2002, Tech High became a separate and independent school, starting with the class of 2006.

Unfortunately, recent changes in the relationship have resulted in our high school students being un-welcomed and denied accommodations to support their physical education and athletic programs, by not permitting them to use locker rooms, athletic fields, gym rooms and equipment. Despite SSU’s own admission requirement of 2 years of P.E. and despite a contract being in place with past precedent, our students now suffer under the indifferent attitude of exclusion by means of claiming ambiguous contractual language in order to arbitrarily change the interpretation of our relationship. The rationale for the change in the relationship appears to fluctuate in reasoning and as a result, little can be done in the way of resolving any issues identified.

SSU’s own Statement on Civility and Tolerance cites, “..It is fundamental to our mission to promote a civil, respectful, and inclusive community, and to oppose acts of racism, religious intolerance, sexism,ageism, homophobia, harassment, discrimination against those with disabling conditions, or other forms of intolerance.”

As the contracted host to our high school, certainly the University’s philosophy and service goals should support a relationship and accommodation that allows full usage of the facilities as one would expect any high school to have. Such an expectation is not irrational, unrealistic or unwarranted.

We the undersigned demand full access for our students and additionally, a directive issued from the President of Sonoma State University, Dr. Ruben Armiñana, toward his faculty and staff to foster an inclusive workplace and educational experience, and positive attitude toward this endeavor and our students.