Honor code will be revised

In response to widespread criticism of Blair's new honor code, students, teachers and administrators have held a series of meetings to discuss revisions, which are expected to take effect before the end of this school year.

The meetings, led by students and sponsored by social studies resource teacher Cherie McGinn, began on Feb 19 in order to provide a discussion forum for students and teachers to share their opinions on how the honor code should be changed.

On Feb 27, students attending the meeting drafted a new code and expressed their interest in making it a "true" code rather than a list of school rules. "Students want the honor code to talk more about academic integrity and why it is important," said McGinn, an original drafter of the document.

McGinn estimated that at least ten percent of all students, approximately 300 students, refused to sign the honor code, and up to 20 percent signed it after writing in revisions. In addition, she said that about 40 students were sent to their administrators for not signing the document.

Revisions to the honor code will primarily eliminate the restatement of many of the rules already outlined in student planbooks. The new code will define personal honor and explain why students should follow basic academic rules, according to McGinn.

The honor code currently consists of a list of offenses that students signing the document promise not to commit. It also includes definitions of fabrication and plagiarism, as well as descriptions of violations of testing procedures, an outline of the faculty's responsibilities under the code, the consequences of violating the code and information about the appeal process.

Many students argued against the current honor code because they believe that it should be a document that tells students why they should follow school rules rather than one that restates the rules. "There should be some ‘why's in the document, because I tend not to follow rules unless there are some reasons for why the rule exists," said senior Jeremy Widder, a leader of the honor code meetings.

Students were expected to sign and submit the document on Feb 7, the same day the document was presented to them. However, many students chose not to sign the honor code because they did not support it.

Teachers were instructed to send their students to an administrator for refusing to sign the honor code. However, McGinn said that the administrative referral was not intended as a punishment, but rather as a way for administrators to understand why students did not want to sign the document.

Even though most teachers did not have anything against the honor code before it was distributed to students, their opinions later changed, according to McGinn. "Teachers were told how the honor code should be presented to their students, and I talked to them about its importance. [Before students received it], nobody said that the honor code was stupid or that it'll never work, but many teachers did say that afterwards," she said.

The primary drafters of the honor code, McGinn and Assistant Principal Linda Wanner, support the meetings held to discuss the honor code because they want student and staff input on how the document should be revised in order to increase its appeal to the entire Blair community. "When Ms. McGinn and I spoke to the faculty concerning the honor code, we said it was a first attempt and that we welcomed any and all suggestions that would follow. Whatever comes out of it can only make the document better," Wanner said.

McGinn was quick to admit that she made some mistakes when drafting the first honor code, but added that she is pleased that students are taking an active interest in revising it. "I underestimated the students' desire to implement a ‘true' honor code. I'm thrilled that students want [the honor code] to take more of a philosophical approach," McGinn said.