Lexington (MA) High School Senate

LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-FACULTY SENATE

2004-2005

Moderator Ben Skier, Assistant Moderator Jim Williams, Secretary Lexy Smith

<http://lhs.lexingtonma.org/senate>

TODAY'S DATE: 3-23-05

Today's Agenda: Announcements, Committee Reports, Open Comments,

Recruiter Bill,Limited Sophomore Open Campus Bill

Minutes from Meeting: 3-16-05

I. Call to Order

Meeting is called to order at 7:51 by Moderator Skier

II. Approval of Minutes

Motion Approved Motion by Chair to approve Minutes of last meeting

III. Approval of Agenda

Motion Approved Motion by Chair to approve Agenda

IV. Announcements

a. There is a panel discussion in the guidance conference

room April 6 with PTSA to discuss Unweighted GPA

bill;

senators are encouraged to come and details are coming

b. Senate is consistently starting late; please be on time

c. Two freshmen senators have resigned after missing more than

20% of the meetings and the senate welcomes new senators

Anisha Vachini and Shachi Phene

d. Healthy Services Committee has its first meeting tomorrow

after school; contact Senator Bond if you have any opinions

V. Committee Reports

Climate 1. Was busy preparing for last week's hate forum

Policy 1. Discussed getting the Recruiter Bill out of limbo

Executive 1. Distributed LHS Mission Statement, which will be

discussed

in the near future to give the administration feedback

VI. Open Comments

a. Senator Kafrissen says the hate forum is an important day in

LHS history and that discussion should be continued. Also,

the last junior assembly that senate approved was a waste

b. Senator Bogart invites everyone to come see the drama

production "A Glorious Afternoon" this Sat. at 8 in the Aud.

VII. Extension of Dr. Jones' Veto for Unweighted GPA Bill

a. The veto has recently expired but it is vital that parents

become more united on the issue and that we meet with the

school committee before the bill is passed

b. Everyone is invited to come to April 6th forum

c. Is getting the bill in the handbook relevant to this situation?;

Not really because the handbook is created over the summer

d. Dr. Jones hopes to add a few points to the bill, such as:

starting the bill with Class of 2009, having our transcript

formally reviewed, and bridging achievement gaps at LHS

Motion Motion by Senator Krensky to extend veto (seconded)

e. The senate must be represented in this process

f. The veto should be extended for a long period of time

g. Senate should have 2-3 sessions after bill's fate is decided

Vote: Motion Passes

VIII. Limited Sophomore Open Campus Bill

a. There is a 15-limit on discussion to save time for Recruiter

bill

b. Why do we even find it necessary to pass this bill?

c. Study halls, though boring, allow kids to get things done

d. This bill could allow students more access to computer labs

e. Students can still get work done out of study halls

f. This bill, if passed, would create more work for the

administrators, seeing that many more kids would be roaming

g. This bill would only be a one-quarter experiment

h. Are sophomores prevented from having open campus by law?

i. Not every sophomore will be eligible

j. In the case of fire drill, more students will be unaccounted for

k. 4th quarter is not the best time to experiment with this bill

because the weather will be much nicer

l. The bill is too experimental; it alters GPA requirement

m. There are already many opportunities for students in studies

n. What problem is there with the current situation?

o. It looks as though 204 sophomores would be eligible now

p. Having the experiment in spring would actually lessen the

amount of roaming kids because they could go outside

q. This bill could exacerbate the problem of noise outside classes

r. We are trying to address non-productive time in studies

s. Sophomores may feel odd about some still having studies

t. To those struggling, such a high GPA requirement is unkind

IX. Recruiter Bill

a. One of the bills still needs to be tabled (original motion)

b. There are too many variables in the second bill, which can

be amendments to the first bill

c. We actually do not invite recruiters, they call up

d. The blurb distributed today shows that bill isn't anti-military

e. We must defeat original motion in order to amend first bill

Motion Motion by Senator Harper to Call to Question

Vote: Motion Passes

Vote: Original Motion Fails

Motion Motion by Senator Kafrissen to add blurb to

first bill

Vote: Motion Passes

f. Support expressed for first bill as it stands

g. Even with the new rationale, this will be seen as anti-military

List of Senators Absent from Senate meeting

*Denotes excused/notified absence.

Buttaro David Bond Choi Lane Wilson Sewell Weiser