11/30/12

Agenda 11/30/12
    1. Approval of Minutes
    2. Reports
    3. DEC Rep Vote
    4. Scheduling Committee Motion
    5. Notes & New Business

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do”. -Henry Ford

Council Minutes 11/16/12

1. Approval of Minutes

• Motion: I move to amend the minutes to read “Motion Fails” on the motion to have people follow up the Weekend HW Motion.

Motion Passes.

2. Reports

[Mod] Please be sure to pick up the “Life of a Motion” Sheet! Also we are making a list of all the vetoed motions; Mr. Campbell has approved the Weekend HW Motion.

[Amod] We now have a ping pong table in Mr. Berube’s room. Come play Friday during Activity Period.

[Curric] We are meeting with officials to discuss the Restitution Plan. Nov. 30th there will be a Q & A on the Restitution Plan.

[SL] Next week we will be talking about the Atrium Cleanliness Motion.

[Hist] We still need volunteers for the hot room clean-up.

[Mr. Prince] All Council Reps please help excite the rest of the school about March Intensive. Encourage students to attend so that we can keep the program going.

3. Discussion on Plan M

   The idea: Plan M would change the Wednesday Schedule so that all classes would be 40 minutes long, leaving a 45min block between 4th and 5th period for Council and other standing committees to meet.

   Pros:

• No more conflict between Council + Courses
• A longer period for other groups (e.g., suicide awareness group, clubs, etc.) to meet
• Another (longer) extra period for making up missed work and getting extra help from teachers
• Greater access= greater relativity

   Cons:

• Loss of instructional time (5min) per class on Wed.
• Shorter Council meetings (5min)
• More unstructured time= more misbehavior

   Things to take into consideration:

• Students taking courses at Hartford
• Students taking courses at Dartmouth

   Questions:

• If we pass this when would it go into effect?
• Second semester.
• What would happen with lunch?
• Class time could be used for lunch.

   Discussion:

• A concern is that 45min period would encourage students to go off campus or get into vehicles. Might worry parents.
• I think we should make a scheduling committee to continue the discussion of scheduling.
• I fear that by changing this schedule we might exclude community members.
• We should combine the Late Start Motion and Plan M so that the break comes at the beginning of the day.
• Response: A problem would be bus scheduling. Also, if the school doesn’t have to come in until later then this doesn’t encourage students to attend.
• Motion: I move to immediately form a committee of students, teachers and community members to address scheduling concerns.
• The schedule needs to be discussed. There are some great avenues we could pursue.

Discussion:

• I support the Plan M Motion and the Late Start Motion but we need more information and support. I think we should form a committee to look at all possible changes.
• Mr. Glenney already has an elegant solution and I don’t think that a committee would be able to improve Plan M.
• As Council members we should not support any schedule that puts us as the same spot as other committees and clubs. We are a governing body and should make that distinction. A scheduling committee would help preserve that seriousness as a Council body.
• I don’t like the idea that Council has to meet during class time to preserve the seriousness and to keep with tradition.
• I support this motion because it would be better for everyone to look into the schedule and make positive changes.

Meeting Adjourns

11/16/12

Agenda 11/16/12
   1. Approval of Minutes
   2. Reports
   3. Plan M
   4. Notes & New Business
"You can look at me with those judgmental eyes all you want, but I kid you not, I will bleed on the American flag to make sure those stripes stay red." -Theodore Brassel, "Mission: Impossible III"

Council Minutes 11/9/12

1. Approval of Minutes
2. Reports
[Mod] Please remember to email Katherine if you are going to be late or absent during Council. Two unexcused absences or six tardies can result in the removal of a Council member.
[DSB] If you are interested in the Dresden Ed committee contact Rowan.
[Addante] I would like to see a time and place to go back and review motions that have been vetoed. We might want to bring some motions back or check the jurisdiction. I encourage everyone to review the guidelines for vetoes in the bylaws.
[Curric] We discussed the next steps for the implementation of the restorative justice plan. The restorative justice plan would accompany punishment, but it would allow a way to restore the subject’s good standing in the community and school. We want to do a mock meeting/panel to demonstrate restorative justice.
[SL] We designed the Golden Ticket and discussed implementing the process.
[SA] We have the bombardment tournament in December!
[OEC] We talked about the bullying policy.
[COI] We talked about the Dance Motion. We also made a rubric for NEASC to test the student body’s social and civic goals (the last three goals of the school’s mission statement).
[Hist] We are still looking for helping hands to go through the hot room documents. We have an idea to make a timeline visual display of Council’s history.
3. Weekend HW Motion
Motion: I move that weekend homework, including long weekends, be limited to the equivalent of one typical weeknight’s worth of homework.  

Note: The passing of this motion does not preclude the completion of long-term assignments and projects assigned at least one week in advance of a particular weekend and printed on a course calendar, syllabus, or handout.  

Rationale:  Weekends and Long Weekends are opportunities for students to relax, recharge, connect with family and friends, both local and out-of-town, and attend and participate in Hanover High co-curricular activities, such as concerts, plays, and athletic contests.  In addition, these weekends provide opportunities for juniors and seniors to go on college visits, so they do not have to schedule all of them during the school day.  In the fall, these weekends allow seniors time to complete college applications and write college and supplemental essays. They also provide time for students to work on long-range assignments or to make-up assignments missed because of illness, field trips, and early dismissals for medical appointments and co-curricular activities.

• Questions
• Who would decide how to define one night’s worth of hw?
• We are confident that students and teachers are able to define a night’s worth of hw. If a weekend assignment takes as long as a Tuesday night’s assignment, it is one night’s worth
• If you are given a large amount of hw, say 75 pgs to read, do you approach the teacher then or do you attempt it over the weekend and not finish it?
• Definitely approach the teacher. They might reconsider the assignment and the communication would help everyone.

• Debate:
• This is reasonable. I think this will also promote communication between teachers and students.

Motion Passes.
Motion: I move to have members related to the Weekend HW Motion follow through on it and bring it to a staff meeting with Mr. Campbell.

• There is already a system set up to follow up on motions and present information to the staff, so the motion was is unnecessary. We will encourage members, such as Exec members, to attend the staff meeting to present the Weekend HW Motion.

Motion Fails.
3. Plan M
Moved to next week.
Meeting Adjourns.

11/9/12

Agenda 11/9/12
  1. Approval of Minutes
  2. Reports
  3. Weekend HW motion
  4. Discussion on Plan M
  5. Notes & New Business

 “Laws are like sausages: it is better not to see them being made.” - Otto Von Bismarck

Council Minutes 11/2/12

1. Approval of Minutes
2. Reports
[Mod] Next week we are in the chorus room. Email Katherine if you are missing Council for Chorus rehearsal.
[Amod] I have drafted the email to all fourth period teachers, inviting them to bring their classes to Council.
[PR] I sent in the Council Summary to the Broadside. I also drafted an invitation to the Dresden School Board to attend Council meeting.
[Admin] We discussed the MLK day assembly. We also voted on the staff of the month.
[SL] We worked on the technology piece of the Golden Ticket Motion.
[SA] The Winter Carnival points are as follows: Seniors--200pts, Juniors, Sophomores & Staff--150pts, and Freshmen--50pts.
[OEC] We talked about revising the bullying policy.
[COI] We’re meeting next week.
3. Bylaw Revisions
Curric presented the revised Bylaws.
Motion: Curric moves to approve the November 2012 Bylaws.

• This will be going to Admin for general revision after it is approved. If there are changes you’d like to see, please talk to Admin.

Motion passes.
The new Bylaws will be published soon.
4. Notes & New Business
Committees and Jcomm met.

• The Jcomm chair will be Jack Siegel. If a student wants to make an appeal to Jcomm, they must go to Mrs. Nickerson within twenty-four hours of the offense to get the appropriate paperwork, which then will be passed to Jack.
• Jeffrey Li and Liesel Robbins are the Junior Jcomm representatives.

Meeting Adjourns.