On the fourth anniversary of the War in Iraq, statistics recently released by the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) are showing that an increasing number of parents in the Pajaro Valley are choosing to “opt out” of having their high school child’s information released to military recruiters.

In June 2005, the former PVUSD Board of Trustees majority approved a policy to better inform parents of their right to not have their child’s information disclosed to military recruiters by placing the right to “opt out” on the student’s emergency card...The previous information given to PVUSD parents and students by the school district was being buried with dozens of other documents distributed at the beginning of the school year. As a result, numerous Pajaro Valley parents, students, teachers and community members requested that the information be placed on the emergency cards to better inform parents.

Since enacting the emergency card policy, huge numbers of PV parents have chosen to exercise their right to protect their child’s information from military recruiters...At Aptos High School, the numbers of parents who chose to “opt out” from releasing their child’s information spiked from 16 percent in the 2003-04 school year to 67 percent in only two years after the emergency card policy was approved. At Watsonville High School, the number of parents who also chose to “opt out” skyrocketed from 4 percent in 2003-04 school year to 66 percent two years later. Read More

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