Prior Lake American - School Board - Comments

You're correct that they did

Joanna Miller — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:50:14 -0500

You're correct that they did add MP3s to the list of items discouraged at the high school. It's a technology update to a rule they've had in place for a while for radios, CD players, pagers and cell phones.

I looked at the 2006-07 handbook, and back then, it called for cell phones and pagers to be out of view during the school day (in a bag, purse, etc.) and said they would be confiscated "if a student had one in a classroom, hallway, the commons area, etc. during the school day" or if it were disruptive.

Flash forward to 2008-09, and the similar portion of the book includes MP3 players. It is changed to read that they need to be "kept out of view and not heard."

The article does not mention

Common Sense — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:11:32 -0500

The article does not mention that Ipods, MP3 Players and CD Players are now also banned according to the handbook. That is also new. They are going to be treated the same as the cell phones. I hope the school office has a good system to mark all the confiscated items. I think it makes sense, but should have been done years ago or they should have not got lack.

I like how the article sites

pmgguy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:14:04 -0500

I like how the article sites this as "at top of the list of small items that can cause major headaches for supervisors."

Well let's not expect the supervisors to have to supervise, much less deal with punishments and holding bad decision makers accountable for their actions! No sir, if we make students accountable for causing trouble then we run the risk of NOT being able to let everyone become a victim of some circumstance down the road.

Well at least with the no hat rule in place it will leave more time for the staff to actually educate our kids.....
....or is that no longer in their contracts either?

I totally agree that wearing

sfiecke — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:26:54 -0500

I totally agree that wearing hats in the classroom, etc, isn't proper etiquette (and sadly, we are losing such etiquette). When I was in high school (back in the late 1990s), most teachers wouldn't allow hats in the classroom. We weren't supposed to wear jackets either, I don't think, but that rule was relaxed when the classrooms were cold during the winter.

So, were caps allowed before in the classroom at Prior Lake? I'm confused.

I still don't understand why the school is attacking a physical artifice versus just punishing bad behavior. At some point, when you try to legislate every thing that could possibly be used for misbehavior, it becomes ridiculous and you end up losing respect as an authority figure.

I remember when we got a new high school principal, one of the first things he said was, I'm not going to allow students to have plastic bottled pop because at my old school, kids put alcohol in their bottles. Not only did this lower our impression of him right off the bat, but it gave every student who had never thought of doing it, the idea. (The rule went quietly away when the school wanted revenue from a pop machine contract. ) If kids really want to do something bad, they'll find a way of doing it.

I always found that it didn't matter how many rules a teacher had, either a teacher commanded respect and received it, or they didn't and students acted accordingly.

What other kinds of

Lori Carlson — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:34:34 -0500

What other kinds of headbands are there? I guess sports headbands...so are those banned during sporting events, too?
I think the teachers and principals are going to have their work cut out for them as they try to explain and clarify this policy.

Miss Manners says hats are

Joanna Miller — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:22:48 -0500

Miss Manners says hats are taken off as a sign of respect (in front of the U.S. Flag, in the presence of a lady, when entering a home/building). I mean, it's old-school etiquette.

But, many area schools have hat/headwear policies not only because of respect, but because of safety issues and problems that crop up from hats. Fights, gang-related/clique issues, and theft are a few reasons.

Pawlicki said at PLHS, it has to do with the amount of time administrators spent dealing with scuffles and thefts related to hats this year. Students horse around, toss hats off of the upstairs area to the floor below, and it has created problems in the hallways.

It's not just hats - iPods and cell phones have been issues addressed in the student handbook previously, as well. The same three-strike policy is used.

I don't think they're referring to fashion headbands in the policy, but students can ask for clarification at the school, and teachers will discuss the policy during the first week of classes so they know what's going on.

So they can't even put their

Lori Carlson — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:52:30 -0500

So they can't even put their sweatshirt hoods up if they're cold? Geez...and yeah, the headband thing seems a bit much.

Headbands, too? Wow. I know

Ruth Anne Maddox — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:49:57 -0500

Headbands, too? Wow. I know girls/women who wear headbands every day as part of their hairstyle either because that's the way they like to wear their hair or to keep the fly-aways out of their face. And one of them has hair too short for a ponytail so that's not an option.

Holy Buckets!!! Parents

noconfidence — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:54:46 -0500

Holy Buckets!!!
Parents should of taught their kids that you should not wear your hats indoors when they were little.

Here's the exact language

Joanna Miller — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:52:48 -0500

Here's the exact language from the handbook for next year:
"Headwear: No headwear of any type will be allowed during school hours; 7:20-2:10 p.m. For purpose of this policy "headwear" includes, but is not limited to; scarves, baseball caps, headbands, hats, stocking caps, winter headwear, hoods, and bandanas. This policy is usually relaxed during Homecoming and Spirit Weeks. Headwear may not be worn or visisble unless they are related to religious practices of function, and/or are needed as a matter of health."

Good point sfiecke. I would

crash716 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:30:39 -0500

Good point sfiecke. I would imagine students can strike-up a fight over a lot of things. Caps are probably the least of it but something the administration feels they can control. For kids, getting to high school means a few more liberties than the lower grades. They like to be treated more like young adults than kids. Making it mandatory for them to leave the hats at home seems harsh. Especially for some boys, who wear hats every day as part of their wardrobe. I don't know, seems like a micro-managing move by the administration.

So, are students even

sfiecke — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:42:31 -0500

So, are students even allowed to bring caps to school, if they keep them in their lockers? Before, were students allowed to wear caps in the classroom? Or just in the hallways?

And what about wearing hats to school in the winter?

Now that they've banned caps, are they going to start banning everything students fight over? If students steal pencils or pens from each other and whip them at each other, will those be outlawed as well?

Right on!

Tom Schardin — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:37:10 -0500

Right on!

I'm at a loss for words. I

SavageResident — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:04:16 -0500

I'm at a loss for words. I have a fundamental disagreement with most posts on this site. It seems to me no matter how much the school district strips programs, reduces the budget, when will it be enough? You can always be anti-something because there will always be something to be anti.. But, when you are in a district where there is a brand new school built that sits idle, don't red flags start to rise? There is less offered in this district than when I was in school 20 years ago! I never thought I'd have less to offer my children than what I received... arn't we supposed to offer our children as good or better lives/learning than what we had, isn't that what this country has been built on?

You're right DB, the budget

gdubya — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:37:10 -0500

You're right DB, the budget process can be simplified to the point where it doesn't seem like rocket science. And in your simplified world it works, but I strongly suspect that what you would have during the last ten years is a diminishing district because the state contribution, (per pupil $) has not kept pace with inflation. So as costs to operate schools and pay staff increases, a gap has been widening. Consider how the cost of gasoline increase is going to affect budgets for the district this year. In your world, teachers don't get raises that even come close to keeping pace with the cost of living increase, class sizes would be larger than they are today and program cuts would have happened much sooner.

Teachers would leave, and to replace them, what really qualified kick-butt teacher is going to want to come work for that district? How many quality families that factor in schools as part of their decision for relocating will come here?

I think the trickle down effect would be noticable given enough time.