SGA's lock-out policy complaint rejected

SGA President Eric Hysen received a reply from Principal Phillip Gainous this morning rejecting his formal request for a review of the lock-out policy.

Hysen's request stated that the major problems with the policy are that the policy was developed and implemented without any student input, and that it was not in writing. According to Hysen, the absence of proper communication has resulted in conflicting messages on different issues within the policy, which could have been avoided if the policy was originally put in writing. "There are so many little intricacies that need to be resolved by putting it in writing so that the students and administrators are all on the same page," he said.

In filing these complaints, Hysen hoped to work out a compromise with Gainous to allow students one or two late arrivals with no penalty per semester. His reasoning is that the goal of this policy was to prevent students from losing credit in classes. He claims that students should be allowed at least one or two tardies without receiving a detention. The official LC policy allows students nine tardies before they lose credit.

Gainous rejected the SGA's complaint that the policy did not have student input and was not in writing, because the administration had to make an emergency decision to implement the policy; reportedly, so many students were losing credit in classes due to arriving school late. Gainous said that the policy was not new to the school, and that they are now simply deciding to enforce it.

Hysen said that the he is going to make a final attempt to reach a compromise with Gainous in a meeting Monday morning. If a compromise is not reached, the SGA plans to submit an official appeal to the Superintendent's Office. "We hoped to avoid the appeal process by reaching a compromise, but I am not optimistic about it," Hysen said. "If one is not reached on Monday, we will have no other choice but to move forward in the appeals process."