School Council Minutes Summary

March 21, 2002

The Dunwoody High School Council met in regular session Thursday, March 21, 2002 at 3:20 p.m. in the media center at Dunwoody High School.

School Council Members Present:

Judy Port, Ann Wood, Rachel Lawson, David Evans, and Joanne Leonard

Members Absent:

Judy Womack and Jerry Petrus

The minutes were approved with one correction by Judy Port which included a revision, application for the International Baccalaureate Program instead of the participation in the IB Program. Mrs. Leonard introduced Cowen Harter, assistant principal, who would assist in the discussion of the Student Expectations part of the Agenda Planner.

Old business included the SPLOST II vote on March 19th which was passed in DeKalb County. The PTSO in collaboration with Dunwoody parents encouraged the community to remember to vote by reminders on Calling Post and flyers placed in mailboxes. Judy Port reminded the council of a meeting on Monday, March 25, 2002 at Peachtree Middle School to discuss the appropriations of SPLOST II funds to our school cluster.

Concerns were expressed from parents to council members about the uncertainty of four gifted classes in ninth and tenth grade for the 2002‐2003 school year. Mrs. Harter reiterated that she was going ahead with plans for this curriculum in the master schedule which would be evident in the course verifications issued to students in the near future.

In preparing for the new Student Expectations Handbook distributed in the fall in connection with the agenda planner, Mrs. Harter received input from Student Government Association. The smaller sized were preferred over the regular notebook size. Therefore, there will be more pages to include all necessary information.

There was discussion about the need for parent and student signatures on the booklet. Mrs. Harter indicated that it was not necessary to have a signature because each student would be held accountable to the expectations whether it was signed or not.

Dress Code violations were also discussed. The administrative staff has been addressing these issues during homeroom during announcements. Any dress code violation is written up and is kept in the student's discipline file.

The council inquired whether there were any rules about hair color. Mrs. Harter stated that this issue was not a dress code violation unless it was a distraction for instruction. Self expression through hair design was not usually a reason for discipline.

The following suggestions were made to include in the first three pages of the Student Expectation Handbook:

Include web site address

Cheating would also include copying homework from another student. Copying Internet term papers, poems and other literary works is prohibited.

Counseling Office appointments can only be requested before and after school and during lunch, not between classes.

Clarification of a.m. activities is needed to include food limitations and morning activities.

Three tier transportation will need to be included as soon as it is defined.

Include in bold print, change of address and phone numbers are necessary to ensure the safety of your student.

Cell phone allowances need to be reviewed according to state policy.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for April 18, 2002 in the conference room.