Minutes 2.1.17/Agenda 2.8.17

Post date: Feb 13, 2017 5:59:36 PM

Agenda 2.8.17

1. Approval of Minutes
2. Reports
3. Ms Addante celebration
4. Community Service Graduation Requirement Motion
5. Notes and New Business

Council Minutes 2.1.17

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” -Martin Luther King

1. Approval of Minutes
2. Reports
  - Mod: MLK assembly had to be canceled because of the school cancellations but there is another plan.
  - A-Mod: Wasn’t here yesterday but will check in with committees next week
  - Treasurer: Council Fund: $5,816.04, Co-Curricular: $5,013
  - Secretary: Freshmen and staff alternates can vote. Next week the agenda should be projected on the TV in the Atrium based on the discussion from last week
  - SAC: Worked on list of activities for Winter Carnival in just over two weeks
  - Admin: Because MLK was cancelled we want to have an optional talk in honor of Black History Month at the end of February
  - Curric: Worked on finalizing Curric survey to be sent out. We chose to only ask about courses that are taught by multiple teachers so we are examining the curriculum rather than singling out a single teacher and their methods.
  - SL: Discussed scheduling shadowing days for March
  - OEC: Worked on Handbook edits
  - Inclusivity: Great job presenting last week we are regrouping and refocusing on bathrooms
  - Service: Have the motion coming today
3. Religious Holidays Ad Hoc Committee Approval

“I move to form an Ad Hoc Committee under the name Observances Ad Hoc. This committee will

work to research possibilities and to understand the legal boundaries around any motion regarding a change made to the accommodations of observances (religious and secular) and will be the driving force behind new Council motions surrounding observances once enough new information is gained”

- - Already a group looking into Constitutionality and new legal groups and want to expand this research to include more people, hopefully students, staff, and community members of all observances
  - Motion Passes

- Consecutive Review Day Motion

“I move to: Add the following wording to Section 6 of The Handbook under the subsection

“Exams” and the heading “Review Period,”: “Courses requiring an examination of the material learned as the final course experience will have at least two consecutive days of formal review periods during the last two class periods prior to the week of exams.” and to strike the points “Some courses do not require a formal review period since the final course experience is not an examination of material learned” and “The classroom teacher determines the timing and length of the review period”

- - This makes it so teachers are required to have two consecutive review days before exams and then removes contradictory and redundant information
  - Doesn’t do anything to restrict what homework can be assigned those days
  - “I move to add the phrase ‘at least’ before ‘two consecutive days’
    - Some classes need more time and this should be the minimum
    - Amendment Passes
  - I thought this was already a policy and it should be written down as policy
  - It would be helpful for students to know this is a policy if it is in the Staff Handbook
  - Good to pass a motion to make sure teachers are aware of this
  - We should add something about assignment of new homework during that time
  - Not actually written in the staff handbook
  - Motion Passes

- Community Service Graduation Requirement Motion

“I move to that Hanover High School institute a community service graduation

requirement of 10 hours per year beginning in fall of 2018. The current and amended handbook wording is outlined here”

- - An earlier survey found about a ⅓-⅓-⅓ split in students approving, disagreeing, and having no preference in a graduation requirement and about 80% of students are fairly to very interested in community service
  - We only have one outside organization because for service to be meaningful you don’t do an hour with a bunch of organizations but continue working with one cause and it makes the administration work easier
  - Forty hours in total is a very low bar and it should be higher
  - Like wording to clarify if you have to do ten hours each year or if you could do forty hours all in one year
  - If you go to Hanover only for three full years, you would only have to do thirty hours
  - Community service done through March Intensive would count
  - Community service through Youth In Action is very easy to do and there are a ton of different opportunities
  - I think you have have a commitment to more than one outside organization and it could be avoided by having a minimum hour requirement to log an outside organization or to have a higher maximum number of outside organizations
  - If people can do all their hours in one year, they might do it all in one summer trip and then never do it again
  - We could generate a list of approved outside organizations like Listen or the Haven and then those would not count as an outside organization
  - If we raise the bar for service it might make it a burden and we might get less additional participation even though ten hours seems small
  - The experience doing service as a freshmen is very different then as a senior so it should be over multiple years
  - Ten hours is not enough time to build a good relationship and if our goal is to expose people to service, we should allow people to explore different types of service rather than just one outside organization
  - This wouldn’t have to go on the transcript, avoiding the problem with the last motion
  - Should work on the definition of service because we need to decide if mowing a neighbors law is just being a good person and community service is something beyond that

- Meeting Adjourns