| Middleburgh Student Press "The Real Voice of the Students" |
| The |
 |
|
|
| Friday, March 15, 2002 |
| Contact Information If you have questions, comments, corrections, tips, suggestions for stories, or letters to the editor, please contact the Middleburgh Student Press through one of the means below. U.S.Mail- The Middleburgh Student Press Robert Kerley, Editor C/O Mr. Jonathan Bright Middleburgh High School Main Street, P.O. Box 400 Middleburgh, N.Y. 12122 E-Mail- mcsnewsman@yahoo.com Personal Contact- Talk to Robert Kerley |
| A policy in the high school hallways disallows students from roaming the halls with out a proper hall-pass. Hall monitors are taking names of students who are excessively in the hall or are walking around without passes and are reporting them accordingly to the administration. More like a team of corresponding detectives, these people compile a list of names in a Steno Pad, and at the end of the week, turn it in to Mr. Devine and Mrs. Petrosino. None of us are exactly sure when this policy was put into effect and are unsure of exactly what will happen as punishment. Some believe our signing out privileges could be revoked from study halls or any other instance of leaving class to be in the hall. Why are we being written up? Mrs. Wrigley said, "This policy is being re-enforced because teachers and other staff members brought it up at a Faculty Meeting. Its just my job to make sure kids aren't excessively in the hall without a pass." Every time one of us is in the hall, these hall monitors have the right to interrogate, and ask for passes. I believe that this policy was brought about because students were wandering throughout the halls almost whenever they wanted. True enough having a specialized plan to keep kids from free-roaming their native lands is a good idea. Such instances of leaving class to wander the halls leaves most students distracted and can also create environments which tends to broaden the kid's desire not to learn anymore during that class period. Hopefully we can move (in proper manners that in no way disrupt the educational process or compromise school safety, such as speaking at meetings of the Board of Education) to end this policy, or touch up our hall-roaming skills, which ever comes first. |
| Commentary by Evan Durfee |
| Some thoughts on the hallway crackdown at MCS |
| "It's cyclic," says Mrs. Petrosino. The hat rule apparently changes in a cycle. "When I first came here... hats were not allowed at all." According to our principal, she says the hat rule lessened, and then was done away with for a little while. For a time hats were allowed in the hallways, and in classrooms as long as teachers didn't have a problem. "The students sort of submarined themselves,"she said. When students would move from a classroom where they could wear hats, to one where they couldn't, they would give the teacher a hard time. It eventually got to be too much of a problem. So before the 2001-2002 school year began, the board had to draft a new code of conduct. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to officially do away with the hat rule. "We wanted to keep the code of conduct uniform for the entire district." Since hats aren't allowed in the Elementary or Middle Schools, they were done away with here as well. When presented with the issue of females not being asked to take their hats off in school, Mrs. Petrosino replied that she believes that stemmed from the tradition that gentlemen always removed their hats. When asked if she thought it was acceptable for the girls to be allowed to wear hats, however, she replied absolutely not. She believed the rule should not be gender specific. The Middleburgh Student Press was also able to confirm that a head lice problem had no impact on the hat rule, as it had been rumored. Mrs. Petrosino commented that it wasn't part of the initial decision, but it helps lessen the risk. During an interview with Senior Class President Peter DeBartolo, he shared some of his thoughts on the issue. His feelings on the issue were that there would be less confusion if the student body were more informed of the motives for implementation of the hat rule. He also believes that is the reason it was received with some hostility and even resentment, lack of information. When asked that unsatisfied students could do, he replied: "If students have problems with the current policy, the most logical course of action would be to discuss it with the administration and/or Mrs. Petrosino. She, in the past, has always been more than willing to listen to the students." |
| The MCS hat policy: an examination |
| by Jordan Becker |
 |
 |