Work permits are set to expire

What you need to know about work permits on the Aug. 15 deadline

Briana McMullen, Pepper Bough Editor • August 15, 2023

Work permits are essential for high school students to work legally. Deadline for district-issued permits is Aug. 15.

Work permits issued in 2022 by the school district are set to expire today. For Colton students, this means it is time to reapply to make sure employment status doesn’t change.

At CHS, the person in charge of work permits and work experience is Ms. Diane Brown. She has been involved with work experience for the last eight years.

Ms. Diane Brown is the work experience teacher at Colton High School. She is located in room 570 on Mondays and Thursdays. [Photo courtesy of Diane Brown]

According to Brown, each work permit has a unique expiration date. However, those issued through work experience by the school district expire on Aug. 15.

For those who need to reapply, it is important to handle this quickly. Failure to reapply does not terminate employment, but employers cannot schedule employees whose permits are invalid.

“If an employer schedules employees without a work permit,” Brown said, “that’s an obvious red flag. At that point, it’s clear they have no problems cutting corners.”

While several students are in need of a renewed work permit, others are looking to start the job hunt and will be in need of one. Here’s how to get a work permit:

In order to get a work permit you need at least a 2.0 G.P.A., good attendance, and to be 14 years old.
You need to get a blank permit and bring it to your job interview. Have it filled out by your future employer, then return it to Diane Brown for her approval. Brown is in room 570 at Colton High on Mondays and Thursdays. If she is unavailable, you can see Ms. Cindy Garcia in the office to obtain a copy.
For additional help, you can email Brown. She has a 24-48 hour turn around with emails and/or work permits.

And here’s a couple pointers. You don’t have to take the work experience class during zero period in order to get a work permit. However, you can receive elective credits if you do.

Also, if your G.P.A. is lower than 2.0, see Brown in order to learn more about what you can do in order to get a permit.

“I have been working a year and half,” said senior Natalie Solis. Solis said she started working at In-N-Out when she turned 16.

“Once I got it [work permit] I took it to Ms. Brown and then signed me off,” said Solis. “It was as easy as that.”

Work Experience

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About the Contributor

Briana McMullen, Editor

Briana McMullen is a junior at Colton High School. Some of her interests include skating (both rollerskating and skateboarding), reading and hanging out with friends. She loves listening to music. Some of her favorite artists are the Beatles, the Doors, Pink Floyd, $uicideboy$, Tyler the Creator, The Police, Nirvana, Pantera, Metallica and Megadeath.