Lexington (MA) High School Senate

LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-FACULTY SENATE

2001-2002

Moderator Ilana Kessler, Assistant Moderator Michael Fiveash, Secretary Sara Enders

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

Agenda

For the October 11, 2001 meeting:

1. Announcements

2. Committee Reports

3. Wall of Rejection Bill

4. New Business

Minutes

From September 20, 2001 meeting:

[Commenced, 7:50 AM]

Minutes approved.

[Agenda approved]

Announcements

Lessin: I'd like to apologize for a statement I made last week, that I now think was inappropriate.

Enders: To make taking attendance easier, from now on each Senator will get their name card from me at the beginning of the meeting, and return it at the end. Anyone who does not take their card will be marked absent.

Fiveash: I realize this meeting space is not ideal. Once the Freshmen are elected, it simply won't work. Our alternatives appear to be the Science Lecture Hall, and one of the Commons. I also wanted to mention that I spoke at Sophomore and Junior assemblies about the Honor Code. I committed us to a certain amount of discussion of the Code with the students, which I would like to fulfill next week. I need some students to volunteer to go into classes and talk with students, which will require time and passion about the bill, on their part.

Kessler: There is a Freshman assembly this morning in which I'll speak about the Senate. Secondly, we are short faculty representation and I call on all of you to get us some! Finally, will the committee chairs please come see me before the weekend to talk about this year's plans.

Committee Reports

K. Girondel: The Elections Committee has been working hard. The nomination papers for Freshmen elections are now available. Thanks to Dhanani, Rehman, and Conklin for their help.

Kieft: Policy met Wednesday and 2:30 in room 2:32, and put together an email list of those in the committee.

Collins: Climate met and talked about CRUD, as well as some new ideas: a Wall of Remembrance for the Sept. 11th tragedy, and general beautification of the school: gardening, murals, etc. The idea of a school store was also discussed.

S. Girondel: S. Action met Monday, 7:00AM in room 520. We each took a section of community service and researched that. We've compiled information of many opportunities and the details necessary for getting involved with them. Dhanani said last week that the Community Service form available was contradictory&emdash;it was a form from two years ago. Updated copies were distributed to Guidance.

Enders: Communications met, Wednesday at 2:30 in room 231 and discussed specifically assuming the responsibility of updating the website.

Attendance Bill Discussion

Kessler: We are in a discussion of a motion to amend Section A to read, "…Post a list of all senators marked absent from each Senate meeting at the bottom of that week's minutes (even if the absence is subsequently excused)."

K. Girondel: I support this amendment. This is what is done in the newspaper, and it makes sense.

S. Girondel: Does this amendment preclude placing the minutes on the board?

Finnegan: The minutes will be placed on the board, so, no.

Saldaña: I think this is a tasteful way to make the attendance of meetings known.

[Called to Question]

[Amendment passes unanimously]

Shield: To list absences is an arbitrary statistic. It does not keep track of Senators' contributions to Senate, and is therefore not very useful information, by itself.

Kieft: I urge that someone call this to question.

Burson: Do we have a list of runners up, should Senators be dismissed due to lack of attendance?

Kessler: Yes.

S. Girondel: Responding to Shield, attendance does say something.

Enders: Move to call to question [motion is seconded].

[Attendance Bill passes, 27-4]

Informal Discussion of Summer Work

Burson: I talked with Dr. Seasholes this summer, and he thought this might be something Senate would want to discuss. Specifically, the math and science departments announced summer work after courses had been chosen, and some were annoyed by this.

Dhanani: We don't have jurisdiction over curriculum, and as regulation of summer work interferes with teaching, I don't think this is something we should regulate.

Finnegan: I think this discussion is appropriate. At the least, we can ask that this issue be looked at by the administration. The question needs to be asked, What is the purpose of summer work, and what is the purpose of summer vacation? We want students to be somewhat engaged, but we all need a real vacation.

S. Girondel: Is it unknown what your work is gong to be when you sign up for a course?

Burson: Students usually don't know, specifically.

Halperin: Biology told us in advance; Chemistry changed their summer requirements one week before the end of school.

S. Girondel: If you take hard classes, you should infer that you will have more work, including over the summer. I think people need to learn to pace themselves. However, it is unfair if they don't tell you what to expect.

Kieft: In response to Dhanani's hesitation, we don't have to pass bills all the time. We can pass resolutions.

Catsouphes: In response to Dhanani, I understand that this is of an academic nature, but it is a problem. You need to know what you're getting into before you sign up for a course.

Kafrissen: Many students change courses, which creates issues around summer reading. Also, for courses that begin in the second semester, summer reading seems very remote. There are many concerns here, regarding the amount of, the communication around, and the fairness of summer assignments, which Senate should express. Also, as faculty, we have to be cognizant of what others are requiring. We don't have a right to monopolize a student's summer.

Jehle: Burson and I serve on the Academic Stress Committee. That committee would welcome a report from Senate regarding this issue.

Fried: Teachers treat summer work differently: holding students accountable and weighting it, differently. I think that summer work would be worth the time spent on it.

S. Girondel: Do we have the power to change summer assignments?

Kessler: That depends on what we want to change.

Jehle: We can always voice a recommendation.

S. girondel: One of my assignments was not in my handbook, but it was listed on the website. Also, some teachers' attitude seems to be that they assigned books to read because they had to. Is summer reading part of 990?

Walsh: Yes. If a student does not read a required book, they do not earn those 990 hours. From there, it is up to the teacher how to prove that a book has been read. Students who don't read the books can therefore be punished twice, once with 990, and once with a grade. Ideally, summer work is intended to encourage intellectual activity&emdash;the purpose should not be to fill 990 credit.

Dhanani: The Program of Studies needs to be updated. S. Girondel's pt. Is good. If people want to transfer to a lower level after realizing that they had summer work, let them. But we should do something about the not knowing.

Lessin: I had a teacher who said they didn't like the summer reading books that were assigned. This doesn't seem right.

Rodriguez: We need to regulate how students are informed. All should know what to expect. Could a handout in homeroom accomplish communication?

Collins: The situation with the late announcement in Chemistry was that the students were asked, after they had taken the AP, if the course did enough to prepare them. We had to cover much of the book on our own, so the course either needed to start earlier (over the summer), or move at a more rigorous pace. We all thought to start preparing in summer would be beneficial. I don't know why precalculus decided to give summer work, however.

Burson: We're not looking at eliminating summer work, we are concerned with what is appropriate.

Saldaña: I'd like to remind the Senate not to focus too narrowly on honors classes. All should be represented in this discussion.

Halperin: If you sign up for an AP class, you want to be prepared. The math work was just a review, and optional.

S. Girondel: Who makes changes to the Program of Studies?

K. Girondel: Department heads.

S. Girondel: Why is it not updated? Do teachers have power to change it? Do we?

Kessler: We can suggest and contact those who do.

Stratman: The Department Heads as teachers if they want to make changes, but this message needs to get out, earlier.

S. Girondel: Is there a minimum amount of work required by 990 for each student?

Ly: I think we need to look at courses individually, as with the distinction made between AP and precalculus.