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Show Group formed vo deal I with svudenv concerns Eecer-iiv Principal Bill Caldwell. L'in-i L'in-i High School, introduced a plan the ;iSation hopes will bring the inter-i inter-i leadership of the school to the -2or.t. Tie plan comes amid community ac- - -s that L'intah High School "is not ; --place to be." Mr. Caldwell admits s school is going through a low period --now, as is the community and even ' -sie.ion as a whole. Times are tough and the school seems to be a "-si of that lull in society's attitude, tldell's plan involved every' student yschooL During homeroom one day, -stents were asked to itemized their plaints about the school, along with J : possible solutions to those problems, j, -ss the lists were made, students -' m sma" groups to discuss their ;-K?ras and prioritize the complaints, -iesperson for each group met with ! V-tspersons from other groups in their -;--ffooms and again the lists were edand prioritized. Student homeroom representatives then congregated to combine the feelings of the entire school. Once again the lists were discussed and prioritized. The results of this entire process are: liAttendance policy: A 5 absences. Bi Check-out policy. C) Overall review of policy. 2Attitudes of students & administrators: ad-ministrators: A) School pride. B) Vandalism. Van-dalism. C) Respect for teachers & students. D) Litter. E) General disrespect. F) Hall behavior. G Enforcement En-forcement of rules. 3 1 School facilities: A) Classroom size. Bi Equipment in rooms. C) Commons Area. D) Lockers. E) The list gones on 4) Need for qualified teachers in their field. 5 (Funding and recognition of Extracurricular Extra-curricular Clubs & Activities: A) State math competition, B) State foreign language competition, C) Speechdebate & arama programs. Di High school rodeo club. Ei Funding & recognition of minor-emphasis sports. F Other. 6. Poor Curriculum & Graduation Requirements: Re-quirements: A i Possibility of early graduation. Bi Consistency and publicity publici-ty of graduation requirements, Ci Increased In-creased and more efficient counseling. Di Counseling for students' individual needs (school psychologist). 7. Physical Education: A) Consistent guidelines lie. flags class, but not athletics class i, B) Definite grading standardspossible pass-fail system. 8. Mandatory School Attendance Age. The first meeting of the Uintah High School Improvement Commitee was held Wednesday night. The group is made up of student leaders, school administrators, ad-ministrators, teachers, and parents. The group has been organized to help come up with solutions to the concerns of students. Caldwell explained to the group the process by which the list was arriv- ed at. and the list was discussed. Two major issued dominated the meeting, attendance at-tendance policy and attitudes. Students are allowed to miss five excused ex-cused days during a term w ith no penalty. penal-ty. For these five days there is no determination deter-mination made whether the absence is justified or not. The only prerequisite is that parents know the student is away from school, and parents have given permission. per-mission. After five days, the student must make up classw ork and class time, usually after school. If the student does not do this, he cannot receive credit for the course. Teachers present defended the school's attendance policy. JoAnn Gilbert, social studies teacher, said students in high school should be able to take some resonsibility for being in school. This policy gives them some leeway, without letting them get away without going to class. She said there is a big adjustment from high school to the world after high school, and this policy gives them a certain amount of freedom before that time. Some concern was raised at the meeting about the check-out policy. It was admitted by Principal Caldwell and Vice Principal Nelson that some misuse Continued on page 2 School... Continued from page 1 of me system did exist, since their are those parents who allow their children to misuse the policy, and there is a chance parents don't always know when their child is out of school. Nelson said any policy could be misused, but he defended defend-ed the system since he makes all final decisions concerning violations, and there is room to excuse legitimate variations varia-tions from the strict policy. Attitudes of students and administrators ad-ministrators dominated the remainder of the meetng. The concensus of the group was that peer pressure was the most effective ef-fective tool in controlling disruptive behavior. Students will not continue to react in ways unacceptable. The pro-' blem has been, it was suggested, that students have become callused and tolerant of unacceptable behavior. The major problem is how to bring peer pressure to exert itself in positive ways. It was suggested that the adults in the school will need to set an example. For too long teachers have merely overlooked overlook-ed inappropriate behavior and students have become thoughtless in their actions. Mrs. Gilbert said that as bad as it might sound, it seems to be necessary to go back to square one and teach manners. She said she believes part of the problem with litter and hall behavior is simply due to students thoughtlesness. These are not all bad kids, they just don't think about their actions. No courses of action was decided at the meeting. It was determined that a field trip would be helpful to see other schools, and talk to their administrators about policies that seem to be working. The lield trip was scheduled for March 22 and 23. Different teachers, parents, and students will go each day and will visit several different schools. Another meeting is scheduled after the field trip to discuss their findings. |