The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice
The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice
The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice
Arjun Jindal

Arjun Jindal, Reporter/Photographer

All content by Arjun Jindal
The Palo Alto Unified School District board reviews new parcel tax renewal polling data at a school board meeting on Nov. 4. School Board member Allison Kamhi said she could foresee a shortened renewal timeline --- a period less than the current 7-year cycle --- if property and enrollment trends dramatically change. “What I was finding interesting about it [the parcel tax] was this idea of putting it back before voters, if indeed, we find ourselves in a situation with drastically increasing property taxes and drastically decreasing enrollment,” Kamhi said. “But I am not convinced that we need that, given the polling and given the clear consensus that this is the right thing to do.”

[Photo] PAUSD considers renewal of $16.5 million parcel tax

Priya Tamura and Mayu Altekar-Okazaki
November 18, 2025
“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Palo Alto High School senior and first-time voter Xander Yap said, as he placed his ballot in a drop box on Election Day, marking a milestone in his civic engagement.

Students weigh stakes, readiness as they approach the ballot

Arjun Jindal, Reporter/Photographer
November 6, 2025
Junior winners Zoe Quinlan and Elif Dogan bask in Spirit Week glory after winning the last 'best-dressed' contest today during brunch on the Quad at Palo Alto High School. According to Quinlan, she is glad the junior class won. "I feel amazing about the win and we're doing great," Quinlan said.

[Photo] Juniors victorious in last ‘best-dressed’ competition

Navya Narayanan and Julia Curtis
October 17, 2025
Juniors Justin Fung and Andy Comsa celebrate their victory in Hungry Hippos during the second rally of Palo Alto High School's Spirit Week in the Big Gym during lunch. According to Arabella Guinle, senior spirit commissioner, she likes float building. "My favorite part of spirit week is float building," Guinle said. "It's a chance for me to bond with my classmates and not stress as much. I just love the environment of float building and the awesome food."

Juniors, seniors dominate at second Spirit Week rally

Arjun Jindal and Andrew Zhao
October 14, 2025
Junior Eli Kozodoy holds his surfboard and gets ready to show off his outfit.

[Photo] Juniors rule in second ‘best-dressed’ competition

Navya Narayanan and William Xue
October 14, 2025
The Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education voted 4-1 to approve a modified reassignment of newly elected board trustee Rowena Chiu’s responsibilities in a board meeting last night. According to board trustee Shounak Dharap, the agenda item follows Chiu’s online conduct that led to harmful rhetoric about a fellow PAUSD staff member.

[Photo] Chiu’s responsibilities to be ‘reassigned’ to other committees, resolution countered

Celina Lee and Kristine Lin
February 12, 2025
Community members wait to be let into Palo Alto Unified School District's board meeting tonight. According to JLS Principal Christopher Grierson, he hopes the meeting will be diplomatic. “I'm nervous about the board meeting,” Grierson said. “I want everyone to be respectful and I hope that our school board, district leaders and community members can continue to be respectful of everyone that we serve.”

[Photo] Preview: School board braces for Ethnic Studies fall-out

Priya Tamura and Mayu Altekar-Okazaki
February 11, 2025
A small crowd gathers in front of Palo Alto Unified School District's boardroom, hours before the doors open for tonight's meeting. According to community member Sara Woodham, she is coming in support of Danae Reynolds, who was impacted by new board member Rowena Chiu’s recent online activity following the previous board meeting earlier this month. “The part that is truly concerning or worrisome is the use of social media to characterize that meeting and essentially re-tweeting a website that had all these flagrantly racist posts at the time of the reposting,” Woodham said. “It essentially led to Danae [Reynolds] getting even more threats and racist commentary. I also find it ironic because what spawned from the notion that Rowena felt unsafe is that Danae literally became unsafe, and it really became dangerous for her.”

[Photo] Community members gather for tense board meeting

Celina Lee and Kristine Lin
February 11, 2025
Sophomore quarterback Justin Fung walks off the field in defeat after a 13-42 loss against Wilcox High School last Friday. According Fung, getting a win tonight will get that momentum right back for the Vikings. “There’s always going to be bumps in the road,” Fung said. “But what we gotta do is work together and get through it. Whatever happened last week happened. Now we’ve been focusing on our gameplan and have had a couple of great practices giving me confidence that we can execute come game day”

[Photo] Preview: Football to play Menlo-Atherton in rivalry game

Shreyas Shashi, Reporter
October 25, 2024
Rowena Chiu takes questions at a school board open forum. Running for one of two vacant seats on the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education, Chiu is emphasizing a focus on community-driven solutions and transparent communication. "One should be genuinely intentional about listening to the views of people that have voted for you," Chiu said. "The voters are not here to serve you — you are here to serve them."

[Photo] Board candidate Chiu advocates for change

Motoko Iwata and Christopher Choi
October 29, 2024
Viking senior running back Isaiah Philips pushes Charger senior wide receiver Semaj Clark out of bounds during the Homecoming match on Friday at home. The Vikings suffered a 13-42 loss following a second-half surge from the Chargers. According to Viking senior Joseph Kessler their loss was due to not taking enough risks. “We didn’t make the big plays that we wanted to tonight, and that’s the difference in the game,” Kessler said. “They did. We didn’t.” (Photo: Arjun Jindal)

[Photo] Vikings fall to Chargers in Homecoming game

Alex Chang and Sophie Zhang
October 20, 2024
Nicole Chiu-Wang is running for her second time as a Palo Alto Board of Education candidate. According to Chiu-Wang, her priorities lie in increasing diversity and representation of all cultures for students, especially in the community. “It’s important to understand that people can be parts of many communities,” Chiu-Wang said. “I wish that we did better in helping our students find time to figure out their self-identity.”

[Photo] Board candidate Chiu-Wang champions representation, persistence

Celina Lee and Sophie Zhang
October 29, 2024
Junior social commissioner Jessica Wong and sophomore senator Aeshaan Singhal create casino-themed decorations during Leadership class. Palo Alto High School is hosting their "Casino Night" themed Homecoming dance at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Centennial Plaza. According to Wong, the theme for the upcoming dance perfectly accommodated the location. “We chose the casino theme because we thought it was a great option to incorporate indoor and outdoor sections of the dance.”

[Photo] Preview: Rolling the dice — “Casino Night” to take over Homecoming

Allison Ma and Veronica Qiu
October 17, 2024
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