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 September 13, 2001 meeting:

1. Announcements

2. Committee Reports

3. Attendance Bill

4. Informal Discussion of Summer Work

5. Informal Discussion of Final Exams

6. New Business

Minutes From the June 14, 2001 meeting:

[Quorum met, 7:45AM]

Minutes approved.

Kessler: Move to insert Introduction by Dr. Seasholes ahead of Attendance Bill on the agenda.

[Motion passed]

[Ammended Agenda approved]

Announcements

Enders: I would ask by the end of tomorrow, committee chairs report to me the time and location of their weekly meetings, so that your meetings may be attended by others. I will post this information on the bulletin board.

K. Girondel: I have volunteered to take former Senator Moon's position on the Elections Committee. We will meet tomorrow after school in room 520.

S. Girondel: Will we have time to meet in committees today?

Kessler: This meeting will end five minutes early to give committees time to meet should they need to.

Dhanani: I would just like to point out that the new community service form seems self-contradictory.

Kafrissen: Can our meeting space be improved? We only have half the space we thought we would in this room, which is missing a door, and it is too loud and crowded in here. I don't think people will feel encouraged to come to Senate meetings which are "standing room only."

Kessler: Suggestions for how to improve this are welcome.

Introduction by Dr. Seasholes

Dr. Seasholes: I got a chance to talk to Seniors last week, and am happy to be able to introduce myself to the Senate. I am very supportive of this kind of organization, and look forward to working with you. There are a few things that have come to mind as I have been thinking about the Senate. I am aware that during X-block, attendance to any non-Senate activity is not to be mandatory, yet many other meetings and practices are held. Should I oversee this policy? Then there are issues of equity which concern me. I think many rightly value their sleep-in period, Thursday mornings, perhaps particularly those students who travel all the way in from Boston, and thus you will never find them at a Senate meeting. Also, I talked to a number of kids this summer and got mixed reviews as to how representative the Senate is at this high school. An issue over the backs of the report cards being removed was brought up. I think it would be nice if I attended Senate meetings on your invitation, but otherwise will generally not come. I never read school newspapers for much the same reason: I think certain forums must encourage discussion without the infringement of the principal. Likewise, I don't usually sit on school steering committees, so as to leave the position open for others. If you and I disagree, you would probably feel more comfortable if I weren't here, but I will be happy to come on your invitation.

S. Girondel: Anyone is encouraged to come to Senate. The best way to be represented in Senate is to attend a meeting and speak up, we are always willing to debate a point. Very few came last year&emdash; I think many not very aware of Senate and what goes on here. This year, we really want to improve communication between Senate and the rest of the school we represent.

Dr. Seasholes: As Senators, you must check-in with your constituents, just as do the Senators of this country. Personally, the report card issue hit me as a parent, as most kids seem to look at grade distribution as a reducer of stress, rather than as a source of stress that must be gotten rid of. I would like to take questions about what you expect of me. I would like some clarification on the issue of X-block. Can everyone get here then?

K. Girondel: To clarify, other mandatory activities should not take place during X-block.

Dr. Seasholes: It seems that there are gray areas here: A coach holds a practice which is not mandatory, but the girl who is uncertain about her position on the team knows it will behoove her to attend. Is this okay?

S. Girondel: There has always been difficulty around this issue. The bottom line is that X-block exists for Senate, it is not just a block in which we've chosen to meet.

Dr. Seasholes: I will take my direction from you on this issue. I am pleased to be here and let's keep communication between us open. This will be a good year.

Jehle: By the way, there is a faculty meeting in my department scheduled for an X-block, but the department head lack of attendance by Senators won't be a problem. Should something be done about this? As long as there is no penalty, it is okay to miss it?

Fiveash: That is my opinion.

Kafrissen: I wanted to address the body about why Senate meets, Thursday mornings. We used to meet last block, Wednesdays, but the school found itself overwhelmed by the number of students it had to keep track of. There is an obvious problem with the move to the morning; meetings are more closed, and some of us drift in late. It is a trade-off. The biggest deficit is certainly that it doesn't encourage other students to participate.

Dr. Seasholes: Thank you, I'll let you carry on with business, now. I'm looking forward to a good year.

Attendance Bill

Kessler: When we adjourned, last June, we were about to vote on whether or not to send this bill back to Senator Collins to re-work and more specifically parameters regarding excused vs. unexcused absences.

[Motion fails]

Kieft: The guidelines for excused and unexcused should have already been set. The new bill does not need to re-define them, its intent is to let the school know who has been attending Senate.

Burson: I think we should post who was there, not who was not, as this would be less negative and accusatory.

K. Girondel: I suggest that we adhere to the guidelines drawn up in the Student-Parent handbook as to what qualifies as an excused absence. This is school policy, and should carry-over to the Senate.

S. Girondel: In section D of this bill, a "timely manner" should be specified.

Shield: Regarding sections A and E, is the motive to show who is not there, or is it self-promoting for the Senators who were there.

Kessler: To clarify, the newspaper already should be publishing attendance in the newspaper, twice per year.

Dhanani: I commented last meeting on the bill's possible redundancy, and I now take that back. This adds and reinforces the old bill, and does introduce new policy. Shield, regardless of whether Senators may view their attendance as promoting their fitness as Senators, people have to know who comes and who does not come. If the absence is legitimate, it will show up as excused.

Halperin: One, I don't see the point of part A; I don't think people will look at the board and the newspaper does the job of posting this information. Two, in truth, I don't think that whether an absence is excused or unexcused makes much of a difference. It is easy to make an excuse for one's absence. Regardless of the legitimacy, a Senator who is not here enough does not belong in Senate.

Nagiel: Regarding D, I suggest that a week's time is more reasonable than 48 hours.

Fried: I agree.

Kafrissen: Regarding E, I propose a friendly amendment to remove the second "will".

Collins: Accepted.

David: I move, in section A, to change the wording of the last part of the sentence to read, "All senators marked absent from a Senate meeting will be listed at the bottom of the next week's minutes."

[Motion is seconded]

I think, based on the attention given to the bulletin board, that this information will not be viewed like a scoreboard. Minutes establish the record of our meetings; the attendance belongs there.

Kieft: I propose a friendly amendment to add in parenthesis after David's wording, "(even if the absence is subsequently excused)."

David: Accepted.

Finnegan: I suggest that the wording should read "that week's minutes."

David: Agreed.

[Senate adjourns five minutes early to allow committees to discuss meeting times and locations]