4/27

Agenda: 4/27/2012

1. Approval of Minutes
2. Reports
3. Tom Hanlon Cup Nominations/Elections
4. DSB Meeting Attendance Motion
5. Pass/Fail Motion
6. Notes & New Business

If you're going through hell, keep going." ~Winston Churchill

Council Minutes 4/13/2012

1.     Reports

• [Curric]: We decided not to conduct our yearly survey and instead used the NEASC survey results instead. If you would like information/data, please feel free to ask. We should also look into community representatives this spring.
• [OEC]: Mr. LaCrosse is interested in having the RMS elections during the first week of May, and he'd like Council members to come talk to students on Thursday, April 26. Please contact us if you're interested. Speeches and elections at HHS will be the week following vacation. Please get your posters approved.

Agenda Reordered (agenda items #3 and #4 switched)

3.     Tom Hanlon Cup Nominations/Elections

• Nominations: Dmitry Steesy, Deb Gillespie, Maureen Doyle, Ian Smith (Dean of Students), Ford Daley, Jake Kornfeld, Bill Hammond.
• More nominations & elections will take place on 4/27.

4.     DSB Meeting Attendance Motion

• Motion: I move to amend the motion to read: "I move that Council members would be ineligible to run for reelection if they do not attend at least one Dresden School Board meeting per school year."
• [Toby]: This just clarifies the wording to fit the original intent of the motion.

Debate closes.

Motion (amendment) passes.

• Debate:
• It's really important for Council members to be involved, especially with the DSB. This motion is a good idea.
• It's not really difficult to fulfill this motion, it has good intents.
• If you don't have time to attend a DSB meeting, you shouldn't run for Council.
• We should give more options to allow students to be able to interact and learn about the school board and the democratic process.
• Although attending meetings is a good thing, we need to consider students and their sleep requirements.

Meeting adjourns.

4/13

Agenda: 4/13/2012

1. Approval of Minutes
2. Reports
3. DSB Meeting Attendance Motion
4. Tom Hanlon Cup Nominations/Elections
5. Pass/Fail Motion
6. Notes & New Business

In the midst of chaos, keep stillness inside of you." ~Deepak Chopra

Council Minutes 4/6/2012

1.     Approval of Minutes

2.     Reports

• [Mod]: We will be talking about the Tom Hanlon cup next Friday. Please be ready to nominate candidates through email; we’ll be voting on this next week.
• [Sec]: Junior and senior alternates can vote.
• [DSB]: Our next meeting is Tuesday, April 24^th in the library.
• [Admin]: The Class Preparation Motion is wrapped up, we’ll be working on the Google Doc.
• [Curric}: Dmitry met yesterday with some people; we’ll be discussing the restitution motion today. We’re looking at the bylaws to make sure they align with the Code of Conduct as well as the NEASC survey results.
•  [OEC]: Nomination papers are out, we’re working on an election schedule. We’re also working on bylaw and handbook revisions.
• [SA]: Motion: I move to allocate $50 to Student Activities for the Winter Carnival pizza party.
• [Ben S]: We’ve allocated money in the past, but we’ve looked into prices, and the absolute lowest price around requires more money.

       Debate closes.

       Motion passes.

• [Henry]: Junior class fundraiser (fashion show) is tomorrow night at 7:30 at the Hop.

3.     Closing Debate Motion

• Clarifying Questions:
• Is the authorship speech made before debate is closed or after the motion is made?
• After the motion is made (you cannot speak before giving the motion to close debate).
• Is this a part of Robert’s Rules? Or the HHS bylaws?
• There is nothing in the official Robert’s Rules that prevents this, but our bylaws say that one cannot speak before closing debate.
• Can you express your opinion in this authorship speech?
• No.
• Is there anything in our bylaws that prevents giving an authorship speech after moving to close debate? Is there anything specifically prohibiting this?
• No. If you wanted to, you could get an authorship speech after making the motion to close debate, or any motion for that matter.
• Debate:
• If this isn’t broken, we shouldn’t try to fix it.
• Motion: I move to amend this motion to read “I move to allow an authorship speech excluding opinion after closing debate. Please note that this is not an opportunity to share an opinion.”
• No second, amendment not debated.
• Since there is nothing preventing this as it stands, let’s stop wasting time.
• We need to learn how to ‘read the room,’ and know what the mood is. This motion is unnecessary.

       Debate closes.

       Motion passes.
4.     Restitution Motion

• Motion: I move to charge the Curriculum Committee with developing a plan for the implementation of a restorative justice pilot program at some time next year.
• [Dmitry]: We’ve discussed this in the past, but in the mean time, I’ve met with many officials and educators. I think this program is really important, but the wording leaves an appropriate time period for the plan to be implemented.
• Clarifying Questions:
• Does Curric have to create a plan for implementing this or have you already come up with a plan?
• I’ve been collaborating with Curric and I think the framework has been set up.
• Would this be brought back to Council before the motion is implemented?
• I would imagine so.
• How strict are the guidelines for Curric?
• Not really, I have full faith in them that they’ll make good decisions.
• Is this a guarantee for restitution in the school?
• No.
• Debate:
• This sounds like a great idea.

        Debate closes.

        Motion passes.

5.     DSB Meeting Attendance Motion

• Motion: I move that Council members would be ineligible to run for reelection if they do not attend at least one Dresden School Board meeting.
• [Rachel]: This is mentioned in the bylaws, we need to enforce the rules we’ve already set. I think it’s very valuable for students (especially Council members) to attend the meetings.
• Clarifying Questions:
• Would this have to be an entire meeting?
• Students should stay as long as they can, unless it goes beyond a reasonable hour.
• Would this happen this year?
• This would be implemented next year.
• Would this apply to a person who is running for Council for the first time?
• No.
• Is this just for the Dresden School Board?
• Any Dresden committee would be fine.
• Could Council members watch videos of the meeting instead?
• If necessary, yes, but it would be nice if the Council member could be engaged in the meeting.

Meeting adjourns.

4/6

Agenda: 4/6/2012

1. Approval of Minutes
2. Reports
3. Closing Debate Motion
4. Restitution Motion
5. DSB Meeting Attendance Motion
6. Notes & New Business

"Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical." ~Blaise Pascal

Council Minutes 3/30/2012

1.         Approval of Minutes

2.         Reports

• [Mod]: A thank you from Ms. D'Amato concerning the money we allocated to them last meeting, they're very appreciative. Also, if we want to look into changing the meeting time of Council, we should be doing that very soon.
• [A-Mod]: I'm excited to be back on leadership, I think Jennie's done a great job as Moderator in my absence.
• [Sec]: Sophomore alternate can vote.
• [DSB]: The HHS swim team and hockey team received some money, both tuition (about $6000) and the Code of Conduct were approved.
• [PR]: The Council Facebook and Twitter pages are now live, please like/follow us!
• [Admin]: The Test Preparation Motion is coming back to Council today, we had good discussions with the staff. Hopefully, this motion will work for everyone.
• [Curric]: We're looking at the Council bylaws, we also are talking with Dmitry about the restitution motion. We're also compiling survey results.
• [OEC]: After deliberation, Exec has decided to let Jacob return as A-Mod. Also, we would like to present the Council kickoff video we have created in lieu of a school-wide assembly.
• [SL]: We'll be bringing the Freshmen Off Campus Motion back to Council at some point in the near future.
• [COI]: We discussed the structure of the curriculum.

3.        Class Withdrawal Motion (with a recommendation to fail from Curric)

• Discussion:
• The upcoming pass/fail option doesn't really help students to pursue other interests, but it is alarming that students cannot drop a course like band or chorus to pursue other academic interests.

Debate closes.

Motion fails.

4.        Test Preparation Motion (with a recommendation to pass from Admin)

• Motion: I move to amend the Student Handbook to read: "Previously taken tests, quizzes and assessments will be made available for student test preparation in one or more of the following ways:

1. Tests will be available to study during one or more x-periods in advance of the next test or exam. This does not include class time spent going over tests.
2. Tests will be handed back for review at home.
3. Tests will be available for studying in the appropriate department's resource center."

• [Rowan]: The Test Returns Motion had the right idea, but might not have been feasible for all teachers. This motion maintains the goals of the Test Returns Motion but would make it easier for teachers to achieve these goals in one or more ways. It's a good idea to have this in place, so it's official policy.
• Clarifying Questions:
• Does this motion include time to review tests after school?
• No, but it's relatively open-ended. If the first option is chosen,the review needs to be done during school to keep scheduling issues to a minimum.
• What if a student misses a designated review day?
• S/he must work it out with the teacher on an individual basis.
• So you could access the tests in a Resource Center at any time?
• The tests would be kept under lock and key, but ideally they would be available at any time. This would be similar to the current process used to make up a test in a Resource Center.
• What prevents a teacher from assigning extra work during an x-period and not allowing time for review?
• The x-period must be 'dedicated' to that one and only purpose. If that option doesn't work, there are two other options for teachers to choose.
• Has this been proposed to COI?
• Not officially, but we've talked with both Staff and members of COI; they tend to support the motion.
• Would Resource Centers be prepared to take on this extra filing?
• This option was actually recommended by RC workers, but there are other options if this one is not feasible.

Debate closes.

Motion passes.

5.         Closing Debate Motion

• Motion: I move to allow an authorship speech before closing debate.
• [Rachel]: Here you can move to close debate, and then be able to explain why you'd like to.
• Clarifying Questions:
• Closing Debate essentially says 'we're done discussing this.' Does this motion bring anything else?
• Sometimes we have a hard time closing debate because we don't understand why we want to. 
• So you can't speak, then move to close debate?
• Correct.
• Is the authorship speech a requirement?
• No, it's optional.
• Can you express your opinion during this authorship speech?
• No.

Meeting adjourns.