Point Pleasant Beach High School Activists Get Recognized

A group of activists who will deal with gun violence and other issues has formed at Point Pleasant Beach High School.

STAND, Students Take Action for a New Day, a chapter of the High School Democrats of America, has won official recognition from school district leaders after they were first told they would get no faculty adviser, no presence in the yearbook and no mention on their college transcripts, according to The Asbury Park Press.

Officials changed their minds after the school board was told that, in denying the club, it was violating the federal Equal Access Act, a 1984 law to compel federally funded secondary schools to provide equal access to extracurricular student clubs, according to The Asbury Park Press.

“We’re really happy to be able to start moving forward with our agenda," Anna Kuzmic, 17, who co-founded STAND with two friends, told the publication. Point Pleasant Beach Superintendent William Smith, according to the publication, was unavailable to comment.

Formerly known as the Activism Group, the students and some parents petitioned the board over the past several months to be recognized as an official club and wanted the same privileges as other sanctioned clubs at the high school, according to The Ocean Star.

The board agreed to the students’ request for the same privileges as other school clubs, including: being allowed to meet at the high school, being included in the yearbook and taking part in school functions such as the activity fair, according to The Ocean Star.

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