12/10

Agenda: 12/17/10

1.     Approve Minutes

2.     Reports

3.     100 Point GPA Motion

4.     Honor Code Motion

5.     School Climate Committee Motion

6.     Notes & New Business

Council Minutes 12/10/10

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

                                                                        - J.K. Rowling

1.     Approval of Minutes

2.     Reports:

·      [Mod]: Agenda change — moving GPA motion ahead of Honor Code motion.

·      [Exec]: Many are impressed with the topics that Council talks about.

·      [Admin]: Still working on the MLK assembly, set for January 17th.

·      [Curric]: X-day motion (talking to Ms. Gillespie), CC code (met with Mr. Murphy), and another week on 15% motion.

·      [OEC]: Bylaws coming next week hopefully.

·      [SL]: Language department policy for going Dartmouth.

·      [SA]: Hanover’s Got Talent Dec. 22 with MC of Dmitry.

·      [SSC]: Interviews starting Saturday!

·      [Linda]: At next DSB meeting, Cost Reduction Committee discussion.

3.      100 Point GPA Motion

·      Motion: I move that HHS’s GPA be calculated on a 100 point scale.

                       o   [Rachel]: easier to determine your place, more exact, easier for colleges to see where you are

·      Mr. Glenney

                       o   If GPA calculation is important, we should do it precisely

                       o   Condensing 100 pt scale to 4 pt scale blurs the accuracy of the data

-       Making a crude calculation falsely precise

                       o   Not inconvenient to teachers, the computer makes the 4 pt scale

·      Mr. McCracking (see ppt.)

                       o   Accepted standards

-       Colleges/CollegeBoard likes 4 pt scale

-       Our scale is most common

-       Meshes well with Dartmouth courses

                       o   Variability in grading

-       Teachers are human, not exact

-       Each teacher grades differently

-       Performance based classes are difficult to grade with points

                       o   Fairness and competition

-       We want to recognize more students and reduce competition

-       Increased grade-grubbing will result

-       Cherry picking teachers

                       o   Helpful or hurtful

-       May hurt chances of college acceptance

-       Difference b/t excellent and super excellent student?

-       Could hurt acceptance of students into competitive schools

·      Questions/Clarifications

                       o   There are high schools that use the 100 pt scale

                       o   Colleges vary on viewing the 4 pt scale differently than 100 pt scale

                       o   The transcript holds the most weight in decision

                       o   Averages over 100 would appear

                       o   Our transcripts now show only letter grades

·      Discussion

                       o   One point on 100 scale matters a lot

                       o   We might want to look at putting an A+ on transcripts

                       o   We need to stop worrying so much about grades

                       o   Nothing will ever be good enough, let the students relax!

                       o   Performance classes are nearly impossible to put a number on

                       o   Learn for learning’s sake! What is the importance of high school?

                       o   Grade grubbing already happens

                       o   Placing exactitude where nothing’s exact

                       o   One student could receive two different grades with two different teachers

                       o   This could cause large problems for teachers

Meeting Adjourned

12/3

Agenda: 12/10/10

1.     Approve Minutes

2.     Reports

3.     Honor Code Motion

4.     100 Point GPA Motion

5.     Common Ground Switch Motion

6.     Notes & New Business

Council Minutes 12/3/10

“The future depends on what we do in the present.”

                                                                        - Mahatma Gandhi

1.     Approval of Minutes

2.     Reports:

·      [Mod]: Just note item 4, Honor Code, should be a motion, not a discussion.

·      [A-Mod]: Be careful with the new microphones!

·      [Secretary]: Junior alternate may vote. Recycling went well, but still don’t have all members helping out! Please help!

·      [DSB]: Passed Truancy motion and Bullying Motion.

·      [Admin]: Working on MLK assembly and visitors motion.

·      [Curric]: Working on x-day guidelines, Rachel.

·      [OEC]: Still working on the bylaws, bringing them next week.

·      [SA]: Hanover’s Got Talent on Dec. 22!

·      [SSC]: Applications in, interviewing candidates next week.

·      [COI]: Passed 3 new social studies courses (economics, street law, constitutional law), postponing valedictorian motion.

·      [Spirit Club]: If you need sports posters, let us know!

3.     15% Motion: no test can count for more than 15% of your quarter grade.

·      Discussion

                       o   Still can’t dictate teachers’ time

                       o   Let the teachers teach!

                       o   Having tests count for so much is not what HHS is all about

                       o   Tests shouldn’t represent teaching/learning

                       o   Don’t be afraid to comment on how you learn best!

                       o   [Rachel]: This would really only rule out extreme cases, in some classes having a lot of tests helps you learn

                       o   Motion: I move to refer this to Curric.

·      Discussion on Referral

                       o   Still needs work, research

                       o   It has to go through staff, won’t right now

                       o   There aren’t a lot of staff here to vote on this motion

                       o   Motion: I move to close debate.

Debate Closes

Motion Referred

4.     Honor Code Motion

·      Motion: I move to strike the academic honor code from the HHS handbook.

                       o   [Ms. Stevenson]: Right before the academic integrity policy is the academic honor code. It states that students have an obligation to report cheating students, yet the majority doesn’t.

·      Questions/Clarifications

                       o   Originally a change to the school culture

                       o   What exactly are we striking?

o   Wherever appropriate, right now the whole introductory paragraph.

                       o   No students ever been disciplined for breaking the code

·      Discussion

                       o   Worthy to keep, personal goal to keep going for

                       o   There will always be people who break the code, hard to manage

                       o   We don’t follow a lot of policies (i.e. dress code) so this is opening a bigger issue

                       o   Never knew about this part of the policy

                       o   We should discuss this in civitas classes/common grounds

                       o   What message does this send? Not too great!

                       o   Students at HHS have responsibility and accountability

                       o   Breaking the Honor Code brings down the whole community

                       o   Would never talk to a cheating student, awkward position to be in

                       o   [Ms. Stevenson]: you admit to breaking the code despite being bound to it, if seniors can’t abide by code, how will freshmen?

                       o   We need to look at why people are cheating

·      Motion: I move to amend the motion to strike “responsibility to report violations” from this policy (whole section).

o   [Dmitry]: we can keep the spirit without mandating formal reporting.

·      Discussion on Amendment

                       o   Don’t sink to this lower level, push yourselves to be better

                       o   Should we say we “strongly recommend” those to act?

                       o   Still need a higher bar to reach for

                       o   Need to make the honor code more visible/known

                       o   Maybe our stereotype of tattle-tales/cheating needs to change

Meeting Adjourns

11/19

Agenda: 12/3/10

1.     Approve Minutes

2.     Reports

3.     15% Motion

4.     Honor Code Motion

5.     Notes & New Business

Council Minutes 11/19/10

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action”

                                                                                                            - Tony Robbins

1.     Approval of Minutes

2.     Reports

·       [A-Mod]: Please try to be on time and help set up chairs beforehand!

·       [Sec]: Senior alternate may vote. Please send me any feedback on the minutes! I corrected the minutes from last week and put up motions from this year on the blog.

·       [DSB]: There’s a meeting next week, looking at budget for next year and various policies.

·       [Exec]: I think our exposure in the Caf has been a great change, encourage friends to be involved in committees as well as meetings.

·       [Admin]: Still looking for a speaker for MLK day.

·       [Curric]: Going to be meeting Tuesdays Activity Period from now on.

·       [OEC]: Freshmen class committee met with their advisors, working on bylaw revisions, please send committee attendance to Katie.

·       [SL]: There won’t be a meeting next week.

·       [SA]: Dodgeball was postponed, “Hanover’s Got Talent” coming up!

·       [COI]: Valedictorian motion edited to a breakdown of cum laudes, possible 100 pt grade scale, passed two new social studies courses.

·       [Class Committees]

                        o   Sophomores: Class t-shirts almost done.

                        o   Juniors: Please get in your poinsettia order forms!

                        o   Seniors: Bake pies please!

3.     60% Motion

·       Recap: I move to make it so that tests can only count for up to 60% of your quarter grade.

                        o   [Carl]: By making tests so important, you encourage kids to not do their hw, remember we are representing the whole school

·       Discussion

                        o   Hw helps you do well on tests even if it doesn’t count as much

                        o   Singles out departments who use tests as major category of assessments

                        o   Asking teachers to change the way they teach

                        o   You still need to learn good study habits

                        o   Hw and class participation have to count towards something

                        o   What is the real purpose of tests? Do they help you learn?

                        o   Not doing your hw brings your grade down

                        o   Colleges do a lot of things that don’t help you learn

                        o   Everyone learns differently, we need to respect that

                        o   We need to prepare for college and play that “game”

                        o   Let’s shoot this down and bring a revised motion

                        o   Motion: I move to close debate.

Debate Closes

Motion Fails

4.     Visitors Motion

·       Motion: I move that we accept a guest permission slip to help the school keep track of visitors (see document).

                        o   [Mr. Smith]: We are a popular place to visit, a very open campus, it’s difficult to monitor who enters the building, don’t have a way to manage visitors, parents and schools unaware

·       Questions/Clarifications

                        o   What about foreign exchange students?

-        Yes, they would need one, host family’s parents could sign

                        o   We have no current policy or permission slip on visitors, just a pass

                        o   What’s the history here?

-        No big problems, easier for the administration, preventative

                        o   Timeline?

-        3 days ahead of time

                        o   Do guests or alumni count?

-        Just guests, alumni at discretion of Dean

                        o   We should add parent signatures to this slip

                        o   There would be more restrictions on visitors

                        o   Hopefully downloadable, easy to email and print

                        o   This would be a handbook change

·       Motion: I move to refer this motion to Admin.

·       Referral

                        o   Motion: I move to close debate.

Debate Closes

Motion Passes

5.     Notes & New Business

·       Motion: I move to have no test count for more than 15% of your quarter grade.

                        o   [Rachel]: I don’t think a lot of small quizzes are a problem, this way there can only be 4 big tests per quarter

·       Discussion

                        o   This makes more sense and is more reasonable

                        o   Do any tests count more than 15%?

-        Yes, if you only have 3 tests per quarter

                        o   Papers are not included

                        o   Would this work in the portal?

-        Sure, it can be changed to whatever we need it to be

                        o   This looks like more homework and daily grades

                        o   This problem is bigger than just tests — it’s assessments and assignments

                        o   Still have a problem with any restrictions on teachers

                        o   Tests are tests, just do them

                        o   There are so many styles of classes, we can’t put everything into one box

·       Motion: I move to adjourn.

Meeting Adjourns