Girl, 15, Runs For Board

A 15-year-old for the school fooard? If the courts let her have hier way, Sonia Yaco will be giving school district residents that choice. I The Tappan Junior High ninth grader will try to file her candidacy petitions with the school district office and if - as expected - she is turned down, she says she will pursue the matter in circuit and federal courts. Even if she fails in that route, Sonia vOws to run by launching a write-in c a mpaign. The blond-haired activist is one of three nominees the Human Rights Party (HRP) plans to offer in the nonpartisan June 12 school elect i o n which will determine three school board seats. Dr. Richard Creal of the school district's office of operations, and the man in charge of the school board elections, confirmed that Sonia's nominating petitions would not be accepted because eligibility for candidacy is the same as requirements for being able to vote in an election: a U.S. citizen at least 18 years old who is residing in the district and registered not less than 30 days before the election. Sonia says her attorney, Michigan Legal Services lawyer Gabriel Kaimowitz, will base a court case on the contention that as a student, Sonia should be able to have a voice in affairs vvhich affect her. 11 A n 18-year-old student could run for the school board but chances are he or she would be out of school within a year and then the students would lose their representation," Sonia told The News in an interview. Sonia feels her voice is needed on the school board even though she is a member of the Student Advisory School Board, a 16-member body which includes two representatv.es from the town's four junior highs and four from each of the two high schools. This board is in its first year of operation. "There is a limit as to how effective it (the student board) can be," contends Sonia, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Murray Yaco of 2034 Norway, are backing her didacy. "It only has the power to take any propos al to (School Supt. R. Bruce) McPherson or speak at school board meetings. It has no budget or no way to get back to the students." Thre three-year city resident, who is originally from Fowlerville, was a principal organizer of the ïappan and Ann Arbor Student Unions. She also belongs to the Youth Liberation Movement, helps publish an underground student nëwspaper, Youth Rising, and is a member of the international high school press service Freedom, Peace and Solidarity (FPS). The Tappan unión has been pushing for teacher-student equality, recognition of itself by the schools, and an end to the so-called "tracking" system which union members claim ranks students against each other in scholastic achievement. The student council at Tappan and other Ann Arbor schools is also incapable of fully representing students, according to S o n i a , even though it is elected by the student body. HRP coördinator Doug Cornell echoed Sonia's motives for running in supporting her candidacy. "We want to challenge the idea that the young can't have a voice in running the schools," Cornell said. "This was a natural thln, WBP i to do because it fits in with our principie of giving more power to the people. We think the school board should be made up of representatives of all the people vitally concerned in the schools. That includes students, teachers and parents." Sonia cites racism and sexism in the schools, taxation, appointment of school administrators, teacher contract negotiations, use of school buildings and disciplinary policy as things school board members should be interested in. "Community control is another key issue," she added. "McPherson says he's for decentralization of the (over please)