Blair committees to allow students, parents and support staff to join

The Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) recently approved an idea proposed by librarians Andria Lamphier and Lisa Hack to allow students, parents and janitorial staff access to Blair committees, which previously only included administration and certain select staff members. According to Lamphier, committees will be meeting under the new structure starting in April.

Under the new structure, the committees will meet much more regularly than in past years and will act as second way for students to become involved in Blair decisions. Students will be able to join one of several different committees, such as the "Positive Relations Committee" (formerly the 'Disciplinary Committee'), or the "Incentives Committee."

Principal Phillip Gainous supports the change and said that this new structure "is how it should always have been." He hopes that these groups will be more functional and influential in the decision making process.

Lamphier thought that these new committees would be a much more reliable way to deal with issues. "We want a more regular forum, a more regular process," said Lamphier. The goal of these committees was to have "a more inclusive environment with shared information," according to Lamphier.

Gainous is optimistic about the new structure of Blair committees. "Everyone is a piece of the climate at the school," according to Gainous. He hopes they will join committees and get "up front" with different issues.

Lamphier said that she has seen these types of committees work at other schools she has worked in the past. Lamphier and Gainous both agreed that groups should be small, with student enrollment limited to 10 or less in each committee. "If [the groups] get too big they will not be functional," said Gainous.

These committees would still be monitored by the SGA in order to make sure that the entire student body agrees with the few students present on each committee. Gainous also ensured that "the students will be taken seriously and so will their opinions," if they choose to join a committee.

Among the other benefits, Lamphier thinks that students who join a committee would get to better understand "a large, complex organization and how it works." Lamphier also stresses the commitment it will take in order to make sure these committees are effective. "Students will have to take a lot of responsibility to come to the meetings and not treat it as a club, but as serious activity within the school," she said.