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Senate Meeting Notes

Tuesday 11/1/2011

Attendance—Renouard will add from sign in sheet

Discussion

I.                     Minutes from 10/18/2011—passed by voice vote

II.                    Discussion of Common Principle—Goals Apply to All Students

a.        Sen Sylver—inclusive model is key to LA curriculum—no separate honors classes

b.       Sen Lee—this principle is good and idealistic, but some students’ needs are different from other students’ needs

c.        Sen Ratcliffe—seems like its hard to provide support on both ends—for kids who are excelling at a subject and those who are not

d.       Ryan Lenea—must put more strain on teachers—hard to help kids who need it while challenging others

e.       Amital--teachers should teach to middle level so everyone can access curriculum—wondering if there is any thing that can be done during school hours to support the kids who need it

f.         Sen Lynch—appreciates insights of students re: there are pros and challenges to inclusion

g.        Sen Berlin—sends message that honors is the work you do, not who you are automatically

h.       Sen Hudson—it is a social justice issue—usually “honors” teachers are the ones with most experience—an inclusive program comes closer to ensuring excellent teaching for all kids—all schools should be inclusive

i.         Sen Renouard—inclusion raises the bar for everyone and gives “common experiences” for all Hale kids.  All kids get pushed into new challenges.

j.         Sen Sylver—no such thing as a “normal” student—all kids should be encouraged to improve skills

III.                  Admin Report

a.        Hiring

                                                                                                                                                               i.      3 open positions, made recommendation for 2 of these

                                                                                                                                                              ii.      Budget Freeze downtown—we hired exemption so we can hire our fiscal secretary

                                                                                                                                                            iii.      Hiring committee next week for .6 sped position—Monday after school.  Looking for committee members

b.       Budget

                                                                                                                                                               i.      Still waiting for November adjustment

                                                                                                                                                              ii.      Volunteer Coordinator and Library Assistant--$2500 each

1.       Forgot to add these to the list from last Senate meeting

2.       Small amount of money for a lot of important work

                                                                                                                                                            iii.      Additional photo class 2nd semester--.1 FTE

                                                                                                                                                            iv.      .2 paraeducator—increase Tina Tudor to 1.0 FTE

                                                                                                                                                              v.      Drama Stipend?  Currently provide a band, yearbook, and newspaper stipend, but not a drama stipend—about $3,000-4,000.

                                                                                                                                                            vi.      Need to talk to our constituency to decide priorities

c.        Pledge of Allegiance

                                                                                                                                                               i.      State law and district policy state that we should be saying this at the beginning of each day

                                                                                                                                                              ii.      Some school principals have been asked about this

                                                                                                                                                            iii.      History

1.       Before construction, we had “Pledge” posters next to each flag

2.       Currently, 8 out of 12 do not do daily pledge over the intercom.  4 schools do it—Sealth, RB, Garfield, Ballard (3x per week)

3.       Sen Nielson—for 25 years (1977-2000) we did pledge over closed circuit TV.

a.        Board pulled Channel One

b.       This is approx when pledge went away

                                                                                                                                                            iv.      Sen Renouard--Not required to recite pledge, but just to practice pledge

                                                                                                                                                              v.      Sen Ratcliffe—why is this a state law?

                                                                                                                                                            vi.      Sen Lee—pledge goes against our principles—concerned about propaganda

                                                                                                                                                           vii.      Sen Lynch—could be interesting soc sem discussion

                                                                                                                                                         viii.      Sen Hudson—proposes that each room be furnished with flag and printed pledge, with each classroom deciding how the pledge will be practiced

                                                                                                                                                            ix.      Sen Hudson—different interpretations of state law—our previous practice at Hale seemed to satisfy state law before

                                                                                                                                                              x.      Sen Renouard—proposal is that the pledge will be practiced with flag and printed pledge in each room.  Need to discuss with constituencies

                                                                                                                                                            xi.      Sen Ames—this is a classic soc sem topic—what are we pledging allegiance to?  State law also says we can be “respectfully silent” during pledge.

                                                                                                                                                           xii.      Sen Nielson—what is the purpose of our diversity?  Referenced Seattle Times article.

                                                                                                                                                         xiii.      Sen Lee—pledge doesn’t really reinforce diversity.  Should have kids say things that they are uncomfortable about.

                                                                                                                                                         xiv.      Sen Hudson—same issue during national anthem—some kids do not participate in singing, remain sitting, leave hats on

                                                                                                                                                           xv.      Sen Schwochow and Sen Linett—provides for good discussion about our rights and responsibilities—when we follow the law and don’t follow the law.

                                                                                                                                                         xvi.      Sen Renouard—deferred until next time

IV.                  Old Business

a.        Linett Proposal—No class or group miss any two mentorship classes in any 4 week period without first being approved by NHHS Senate.

                                                                                                                                                               i.      Sen Lynch—appreciates the idea that Senate will not micromanage mentorship, but concerned that we will end up with too many mentorship interruptions if there is so little oversight

                                                                                                                                                              ii.      Sen Miller—constituents are concerned about too many mentorship interruptions.

                                                                                                                                                            iii.      Sen Linett—we are seeing too many interruptions to mentorship, but doesn’t want to see Senate bogged down with this

                                                                                                                                                            iv.      Sen Greene—students do not like to see any disruptions to mentorship

                                                                                                                                                              v.      Sen Renouard—the “who will track?” problem is a big one.

                                                                                                                                                            vi.      Sen Torvik—seems better to just stick with the currently policy, with emphasis on minimizing interruptions to mentorship

                                                                                                                                                           vii.      Sen Linett—perhaps this should just be for new issues—the “standing interruptions” seem like they don’t need to be voted on every single year

                                                                                                                                                         viii.      Sen Renouard—perhaps approve certain events as “perpetual”

1.       Shakespeare Festival

2.       Beyond HS

3.       Club Fair

                                                                                                                                                            ix.      Sen Renouard—friendly amendment—Senate will look at recurring events as “perpetual” on the calendar.  Mike accepted friendly amendment and seconded it.

                                                                                                                                                              x.      Senate passed new policy by voice vote

V.                   New Business

a.        Davis Proposal—after 5 weeks of the beginning of a semester, existing Hale students will not have their schedules changed without a discussion with the affected teachers.

                                                                                                                                                               i.      Sen Jones—there is a form that limits schedule changes to first 2 weeks of quarter

                                                                                                                                                              ii.      Sen Lee—seems strange that kids would change classes after first 2 weeks.

                                                                                                                                                            iii.      Sen Davis—with new kids coming in, we need to know where they are coming from.

                                                                                                                                                            iv.      Sen Renouard—sounds like a process is in place, just needs to be better adhered to

b.       Sen Schwochow—ASB Club Fair

                                                                                                                                                               i.      December 8 in the Commons/Lunchroom/Activity Center

                                                                                                                                                              ii.      During mentorship

                                                                                                                                                            iii.      Students need more time to take opportunities at club fair

                                                                                                                                                            iv.      Schedule change—extend mentorship to 1 hour and cut 5 mins off per 2 and 4

                                                                                                                                                              v.      Sen Ames—didn’t we already approve in our prior decision re: mentorship and recurring activities

                                                                                                                                                            vi.      Sen Renouard—good way to connect kids to club

                                                                                                                                                           vii.      Sen Ames—would be good to do this earlier in school year

                                                                                                                                                         viii.      Sen Renouard—will ask ASB to look at this for earlier in the year

                                                                                                                                                            ix.      Sen Nielson—are we tacitly approving schedule changes when we approved prior mentorship/recurring activities vote?

                                                                                                                                                              x.      Sen Lynch—some schedule changes are pretty major and impact 9th grade schedule.

                                                                                                                                                            xi.      Sen Neilson—we can check these things when we approve yearly activities calendar

c.        AED Batteries—these have been dead all school year.  Very expensive to replace and ship batteries

                                                                                                                                                               i.      Sen Overlie—could we look into grants for these?

Senate adjourned at 4:00 PM