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 December 13, 2001 meeting:

1. Announcements

2. Committee Reports

3. Senior Finals Bill

4. Poster Policy Bill

5. Course Recommendation Bill

6. MCAS Resolution

7. New Business

Minutes

From the November 29, 2001 meeting:

[Minutes Approved]

[Agenda Amended to insert Senior Final Exam Bill before Course Recommendation Bill.]

Announcements

[No announcements.]

Committee Reports

Kieft: Policy met and discussed a revised version of the Ten Minute Rule. We hope to present a modified version of the bill, next week..

Conklin: Climate talked about a bulletin board where students could display information about current activities. We discussed holding assemblies to make people aware of the Honor Code Policy. We also discussed the prevalence of eating disorders at this school, something rarely mentioned. Lastly, we talked about the presence of the LABB program as an integral part of the high school community.

S. Enders: Communications met and compiled a list of ideas to improve Senate-school communication, and ways to give the Senate more of a positive presence in the school community. We want to meet with Dr. Seasholes to hear his ides, particularly as regards the extra seats available on Senate for underrepresented groups. We would like to know what happened to the television monitors in the old cafeterias, a possible venue for publicizing Senate information. Senator Kieft designed a Senate website that can be updated by students more easily than the current one. This could be a site for discussion forums, and suggestions, as well as a way to publicize what we are working on. We also would like to hold a Senate Day at the beginning of February.

S. Girondel: Social Action met Monday. We heard from people at World Aids Day that no one knows that condom packets are available, so we are going to work to publicize them better.

David: Who is in charge of recycling at this school?

Irvin: The LABB program collects the bins.

David: They do the pickup, but they don't have the bins. There is a great shortage of bins at the school. I mention this because the superintendent mentioned recycling as a goal of hers, and I'm wondering what we can do. Perhaps this is a matter for Oversight to address, as the Senate has passed recycling bills, in the past.

Dhanani: Oversight doesn't oversee recycling. I had planned to email the administration, as I have heard that waste put in recycling bins is thrown away with the regular trash.

Kafrissen: The original recycling bill came out of the Climate Committee.

S. Enders: The Communications Committee is brainstorming ways to improve communication between the Senate and the rest of the school. Any ideas the rest of you have would be welcome; please email me with them.

Poster Policy Bill

Kessler: At the end of last week's meeting, we were about to vote to send this bill to the Oversight Committee, but the vote was cut off by the bell. I believe Oversight did look at it over the week, and have revisions to propose. A motion has been made to send this bill to the Oversight Committee. [Motion passes, 21 : 6].

Senior Finals Bill

Collins: Senior Class President Andrea Guttag offered me this idea for this bill. The policy has been a success were it was implemented in Burlington. It makes the second semester of the senior year more meaningful, as students have an incentive to put in constant effort to learn the material. Under the current system, many seniors "slump" under the impression that grades don't matter anymore, and then cram for their finals at the last minute. This policy would be good for teachers, too, as their students would be more invested in the classes, and they would be under less pressure during final exam time. It is really a win-win situation.

President Guttag: As Ben mentioned, Burlington, Winchester, and Bedford have similar policies at their schools. As President of the Senior Class, I feel that what I say represents the opinion of the majority of the student body. Many wait for Senior Slump, seeing second semester as an opportunity to slack-off. If this bill were passed, that would change. Students would feel the incentive to work hard. This benefits both students and teachers, as the quality of the classes would be improved. Many faculty are discouraged by the lack of enthusiasm they are faced with, teaching second semester Seniors. Students would learn more through prolonged effort than by cramming for a single exam. A major bill like this would also win the Senate positive recognition, encouraging students to pay attention to and participate in Senate.

S. Girondel: Does Senate have the jurisdiction to pass this?

Kessler: Yes.

Burson: I propose a friendly amendment to replace the word "better" with "higher," the three times that "better" is used to describe grades. [Accepted.] I would also like a clarification of what a "verbal commitment" would be.

Collins: Students should be able to know what their teacher's policy is. A "verbal commitment" would mean that teachers must declare their policy to students, and is intended to prevent a teacher putting off his or her commitment until later in the year, which would be unfair to students.

Texin: I'm against this bill because I think that the minimum grade is too low. The B- should be raised, at least to a B.

Dhanani: Would it be better to put this policy in the Course Guide?

Saldaña: Could someone clarify what section D means?

Collins: The purpose of D is to emphasize that students should be encouraged to work hard, and rewarded for their hard work. D allows a teacher to exempt a student from taking a final, if he/she has come up short of the B-, but has shown consistent effort. This is not allowing a teacher to wave a magic wand; the student must have displayed the effort.

Fried: The grade should definitely be higher. Also, D allows teachers to exercise favoritism. The requirements should be clear-cut. Also, in Section E, the contract should be written, not verbal.

Burson: A friendly amendment to Section E, to remove "verbal, or". [Accepted.]

S. Girondel: To those that say a B- is too low, I have to disagree. In the second half of Senior year, it is difficult to maintain grades.

Kafrissen: I agree with the intent of this bill, but we have to consider how it addresses the different departments at the school. Some departments have already made finals optional. I think students should have to maintain a B average for the whole duration of the course, to be exempt from the final exam. I think the intent is good, but the bar is set too low.

Hemond: A B- should represent an adequate understanding of the material of a course, as a B or an A is considered an "honorable" grade.

Kessler: I think a B- is high enough. The purpose here is to reward those who work hard, not simply those who have mastered the material. Many must work hard to achieve a B-.

Guttag: In terms of "where the bar should be set," let me mention that we need to represent what is most appropriate for the entire student body. Most students perceive B's and C's as the vicinity of their grades. The point of this bill is to encourage students to maintain their effort, not necessarily to push themselves.

David: This discussion reflects how grade-driven everything is, here. I would prefer to yank up the grade, as a B- is often the equivalent of the "gentleman's C," here. It should be a B or even a B+. It is simply too easy to get a B-.

Burson: This bill is not for the entire school, it is for Seniors. Seniors look at finals as a drag. We should not reward the elite, here, we should merely provide an incentive to work.

Dhanani: The question is, do we want to reward those who have C averages, but work, or those who get A's without doing much work? Effort is abstract, and hard to reward. President Guttag made a good point. Vote as you think your constituents feel. As Senator Hemond said, a B- is easy in some classes, harder to get in others. Saying that grades are harder to achieve, second semester of Senior year, just justifies Senior Slump. I still think a B is an honorable grade, despite grade inflation.

David: Section D addresses the questions posed regarding effort.

Guttag: I talked to my math teacher about this. He would love not to give us a final, but it is part of the policy of the Math Department. Again, remember that you are here to represent students. The majority of students would want the B- to be the required grade. Grade inflation is an issue to be dealt with separately.

S. Enders: In response to Senator Kafrissen, this bill does require that the grade be maintained over the entire class, not just the first few quarters. I think a simple way to address the question of what grade to set the bar at, is to allow teachers to determine what grade is a reflection of adequate effort in their individual classes. Perhaps we could suggest a minimum grade, like the B-, but ultimately, classes are graded differently, and there is no way to set a single bar that would mean the same in all of them.

List of Senators Absent from the November 29, 2001 Meeting

M. Finnegan A. Stratman R. Strizhak D. Walsh

A. Shield A. Gong A. Dugar J. Catsouphes