Lexington (MA) High School Senate

LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-FACULTY SENATE

2005-2006

Moderator Peter Lubershane, Assistant Moderator Sam Kafrissen, Secretary Peter Kim

5-17-06 Agenda: Announcements

Open Comments

Committee Reports

Community Service Resolution

New Business

Minutes from Meeting: 5-10-06

I. Informal Discussion: 1) People have asked when the Voting Records will be available to the public.

2) Communications committee will review it.

3) Musket is an independent newspaper. It is not obligated to report every Senate events.

4) Thank you Senator Slane for typing up the minutes.

5) Tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, there will be the Spring play Paralysis.

6) Spanish and Italian club will be having a second Discotheque on Friday at Knights of Columbus from 7:30 to 10:30.

7) If you are 18, you are eligible to vote in the override. Register by Tuesday afternoon.

8) Motion to open up an informal discussion on attendance policy. Senater Harper, who was part of the committee who created the N Policy, expresses concerns about kids who have N'd out.

a) The data shows that number of absences actually are reduced with the policy.

b) About 4-5 tardies should be allowed before a student is given an absence for those tardies.

c) The system has a lot of leniency. It is not that flawed.

d) Teachers, not deans, should take disciplinary action for tardies and absences.

e) Deans giving detentions act as a deterrent to kids who have already N'd out. Current tardy policy is good because there is a difference between being 3-4 minutes late and being more than 10 minutes late, which is like skipping.

f) There should be some incentives between the N's that you get but the N policy seems to be working.

g) Before the N policy, students had 9 absence leeway. The N policy made it more immediate. Problem now is that when given an N, there is no possibility of making that up because of the class hour requirement. "Super" seniors would rather stay until 21st birthday then try to make up those classes. Maybe there should be a loss of credit but only a quarter's worth of credit.

h) What is the mysterious N appeal?

i) There are two options when given an N. One is getting a waiver with the proper documentation. Another is appealing the N. To appeal, you have to write a letter to dean Lasa and go to the attendance committee.

j) The quarter loss policy makes it easy for students to exploit the loophole in science classes. Students can lose credit but it doesn't matter because they will have enough credit.

k) Some senators express concern about the flaws in the appeals process.

l) Senator Slane tells anecdotes about two kids and their run-in with the appeals process.

m) Teachers should better inform students if students have an N warning.

n) This discussion should happen with a full Senate.

o) The attendance policy teaches you responsibility. On a real job, you are not excused for waking up late.

List of Senators Absent from Senate meeting: *Denotes excused/notified absence.

Stein* Gao* Cullen* Ghazarian Stulck Gokhale Metzger-Traber

Chaulet Kalsow-Ramos Lane Lees Shen Katz

Jhe Buttaro* Kresser