Minutes 10.12.16/Agenda 10.26.16

Post date: Oct 26, 2016 2:24:56 PM

Agenda 10.26.16

• 1. Approval of Minutes

  2. Reports

  3. Yearbook Council Pictures

  4. Plastic Water Bottle Discussion

  5. Notes and New Business

Council Minutes 10.12.16

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” -Leonardo da Vinci

• 1. Approval of Minutes

  2. Reports

     • Moderator: If we can get through the agenda there won’t be a need to meet next week because of PSATs.

     • A Mod: In committees everyone was discussing the service motion. Make sure we aren’t being redundant in our discussions.

     • Treasurer: Co-Curricular Fund: $4,600, Council Fund: $5,866.04

     • Secretary: Staff and class of 2019 alternate can vote.

     • Student Life: Discussed March Intensive Motion

     • SAC: Held Quidditch as first event of Winter Carnival

     • Curric: Discussed March Intensive Motion

  3. March Intensive Service Integration Motion

     • The sole mission of March Intensive should be learning for its own sake and variety

     • The discussion on service was great but we should refocus on the wording of the motion

     • Service isn’t the only thing that can make March Intensive a meaningful experience and the education can be beneficial without involving service

     • Though this may add to some programs it make take away from others if teacher are trying to force in a service component

     • People do community service aside outside Youth in Action and we might want to gather data on that to get a complete picture of service at the school

     • This is against the spirit of March Intensive but the discussion on the importance of service in general is important and we should work to integrate service more

     • “I move to add a clause that passage will automatically trigger the formation of an Ad Hoc committee to address community service at the high school with an initial focus on March Intensive. The committee would be comprised of students, community members and staff.”

       • A committee can brainstorm ideas of how to integrate service into existing March Intensives to help teachers who don’t know how to approach it with their March Intensive

       • Would make the intentions of this motion clear

       • The committee could expand to look at the broader discussion of service that we have had in this body

       • We should create an Ad Hoc and have it look at service before we pass the overall motion

       • March Intensive is a good place to start looking at the broader issue

       • Even if we just get a few kids involved in service that’s a great start but we need to take first steps and March Intensive is a great way to do that

       • “I move to consider the amendment as a separate motion”

         • The idea of the committee is appealing and we should let the committee make recommendations before we pass a motion

         • Committee would still have an initial focus on March Intensive

         • If we are going to do this we need to plan and look at the pieces that fell apart the last time with the service requirement and so we should take a step back and make a plan

         • Motion Passes

  4. Service Ad-Hoc Motion

“I move to add a clause that passage will automatically trigger the formation of an Ad Hoc

committee to address community service at the high school with an initial focus on March

Intensive. The committee would be comprised of students, community members and staff.”

• • • “I move to amend the motion to read ‘I move to form an ad hoc committee to address community service at the high school with an initial focus on March Intensive. The committee would be comprised of students, community members and staff.’”

      • Makes it a clear motion on its own

      • Amendment Passes

    • This is a great idea and if there are people willing to put in the time there is no reason not to pass it

    • Having a committee will help develop some meaningful outcomes from this debate

    • Motion Passes (Hand count: 39 aye, 0 nay, 0 abstention)

• • March Intensive Service Integration Motion

    • Now that the Ad Hoc is created this motion gives the Ad Hoc purpose and the strength of Council behind it with the recommendation

    • It would be odd to have a committee based off of a failed motion

    • We should pass the motion because we believe in the motion and regardless of it the motion passes, the point of the motion was that it started the discussion

    • A committee hasn’t yet looked at this motion and that would be good before we pass it

    • There is no harm in passing this motion and it is a step in the right direction even if it doesn’t solve all the problems

    • This motion might not be the best way to incorporate community service and we should give the committee a clean slate so it is not bound to this motion

    • Give the committee the freedom to be creative

    • The intention expressed around this motion in our discussion is not reflected in the wording of the motion and the committee can look at wording that might better capture the intention expressed in Council

    • This will be the last chance for Council to address this issue because the committee might not come back with a motion

    • Motion Fails (Hand count: 2 aye, 33 nay, 1 abstention)

  • Gender Motion Missing Piece

“I move to add the following wording to Section 8 of the Hanover High School Handbook under

the subsection titled Gender Inclusivity to the end of the section under the heading “Enforcement”: ‘Hanover High School prohibits discriminatory harassment or violence motivated by a person’s actual or perceived gender identity or expression that attempts to interfere with, or actually interferes with, the free exercise of an individual’s right. Discriminatory harassment includes violence, the threat of violence, a pattern of threatening verbal harassment, the use of force, intimidation or coercion, defacing or damaging real property and cyberbullying.”’

• • • Wording was originally in “Clothing and Appearance” Section of the Gender Motion and was amended to be moved to “Enforcement”but it was never debated or voted on with “Enforcement” so this is to tie up that loose end

    • OEC discussed this and unofficially recommends this motion to fail because this policy is already expressed in Section 5 of the Handbook under “Personal Safety” and we don’t want to create a special case where the enforcement of this motion is handled any differently

    • We want to maintain the “Enforcement” section as it is and as it was approved previously

    • Motion Fails

• • Plastic Water Bottle Discussion

    • The excessive use of plastic water bottles is an unnecessary habit and we should discussion how to make a change

    • Environmental club has looked at making a cafe discount ($0.25 per purchase) for people who use a reusable cup

    • Getting rid of the water in bottles in the cafe would have to be negotiated with the company

  • Meeting Adjourns