Lexington (MA) High School Senate

LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-FACULTY SENATE

2004-2005

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

Agenda for 6-15-05: Announcements, Open Comments,Committee Reports, Community Service Bill

Minutes from Meeting: 6-15-05

I. Call to Order: Meeting is called to order at 7:50 by Moderator Lubershane

II. Approval of Minutes: Minutes approved.

III. Approval of Agenda: Agenda approved.

IV. Announcements: 1) We wrote to deans about the Honor Code bill and they've replied. The bill's working.

2) Alex Linquist is a new history teacher who'll be with us next year.

V. Open Comments: 1) This Friday evening's the final improv show.

2) $30,000 spent on a robotic cleaner could have been better spent hiring a custodian. They're understaffed.

VI. Committee Reports: 1) Climate is meeting to organize CRUD after school. Senators must help scoop ice cream. Please bring scoopers on CRUD day.

2) Social Action committee met. Two seniors came back to help us out.

3) Dr. Jones is thanked for funding ice cream on CRUD day.

VII. GPA Compromise 1) School committee has accepted a compromise proposal which would only eliminate the appearance of weighted GPA on report cards. We'll also form a committee to make sure this adheres to school mission statement and appoint a faculty committee to study elimination of GPA more.

2) The original GPA bill must be withdrawn to vote to agree on the compromise version.

3) Senator Richardson makes motion to withdraw the bill

a) Current bill on table is heavily edited. We've done our work but the bill would probably be vetoed. This moves process forward.

b) To clarify for new senators, the GPA bill was passed and has been sitting on Dr. Jone's desk. We've kept extending the veto period from the original 10days.

c) Passes on unanimous vote.

4) Motion to discuss the compromise.

5) Motion to endorse the compromise. Passes.

VIII. Community Service: 1) Bill doesn't dispute value of community service. A quote indicating nature of community of service should come from the heart is read. Nature of community service needs to change

2) Community service could be altered so that it's not a graduation requirement but needed for open campus.

3) Ad hoc committee should be formed to hire someone to deal with this.

4) National Center for Statistics indicates an individual is less likely to do community service later in life if it is a mandatory requirement in school. We can't ignore the fact that community service has been turned into a commodity.

5) SA committee is forced to make decisions. It's not helping the kids or the community.

6) Sympathy expressed for SA committee who has to deal to tons of forms. But community service isn't legislating people's hearts. We're an education al institution that's trying to open people's hearts. The quoted study (#4) cannot evaluate how people actually feel.

7) It's not the volume of work that's the problem. Many in our SA committee feel the system is broken.

8) We wish to hear more from the SA committee.

9) We want the kids be more proactive, rather than forcing this upon them. It's like the state-sponsored AP exams in other states. Schools may boast about kids taking more AP exams but kids are failing it because they're forced.

10) I'm disturbed the phrase "double-dipping". I don't see why community service shouldn't be recognized.

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

Shen, Wilson