Questions regarding the duties and actions of ASB (All Student Body) emerged after an attempted impeachment and ensuing resignation of Oakland Tech’s junior class president on December 15, 2025.
The grievances against the junior class president focused on their alleged failure to meet the presidential duties that are laid out in a set of expectations called the bylaws. The bylaws are meant to govern ASB. “It’s really your constitution,” explained community school manager Dr. Alexis Gray Lawson.
Dr. Alexis stated that ASB members must receive these bylaws when they get sworn in and will again after their first meeting. However, it seems this is not the case in actuality. In fact, last year’s 10th grade ASB president, Koa Santi, was entirely unaware the school even had bylaws and was unclear regarding his general role as president.
Additionally, the bylaws are not followed as closely as intended. For example, the bylaws require ASB to have one meeting a month, and members of the executive board cannot skip three or more meetings. In spite of this, Santi reported that “a couple times, I didn’t know there was a meeting and I didn’t show up, and I definitely skipped or missed three or more meetings.” Out of nine meetings, Santi claims to have gone to only three.
Santi also detailed how his role as president was often unfulfilling. He said that the student president had very little power outside of managing resources for students in need, hosting fundraisers, and planning events. However, no events were ever able to be planned due to a lack of funds.
“I would say, the thing I did the most was walk from the student cabinet building to the dumpster to throw out spoiled food and old clothes,” declared Santi.
Santi also emphasized the disorganized and scattered nature of the student body. He stated that many would skip meetings because the chaperone was often absent. Dr. Gray Lawson countered that these were non-urgent advisory meetings, not the required ones stated in the bylaws.
One of the most pressing issues regarding the bylaws is how outdated they are reported to be. Dr. Gray Lawson stated, “The last time we had a bylaws change was when I first came in, which was five years ago.”
Learning Liaison Mr. Holliday created a student council made up of six students from each academy, and six from each 9th grade house. However, challenges in representation have emerged, so Mr. Price looks to implement a new plan. He aims to get representatives by asking each 4th period class to elect two students, one to attend meetings and one to serve as an alternate. These representatives will be shown the current bylaws and will decide democratically if they need to be changed in order to avoid another situation where ASB members are confused about their duties.