Reflecting on School Rules
However, students feel that not all rules are necessary. They disagree with rules such as: no hats in the building; no lotion in the boys’ locker room; no inappropriate handshakes; no coats in the classrooms; and no electronics at lunch.
Some students believe that the school would be just as successful as it is now without the rules listed above.
“I think phones should be allowed during lunch because they are not causing any distractions or affecting the learning environment,” said Sierra Gallegos, a UHS student.
The administrators at UHS feel quite different.
“I wouldn’t say one is more important than the other one. It’s a matter of enforcing them all with some regularity,” said UHS Dean Steve Waller. “I think that our sets of rules are fair and consistent. I think that if people have questions about them or would like to change some of them; we have a meeting coming up January 30th regarding the handbook, which pertains to school rules, that students can attend.”
Joe Wiemelt, UHS principal, said, “We have several rules and policies in place that make the school very successful. I think they are all necessary. I’m interested in exploring new ways for consequences for inappropriate behavior. One thing we are looking at is teacher-to-teacher support for classroom management and also teacher-to-student kind of mediation. So if a teacher and a student are having a bad relationship, we’re exploring ways to provide some mediation so that they can build better relationships.”
What that means for UHS students is that there could be future changes in the system to make the learning environment in the classrooms more effective.
Whether students are heard or ignored in the changes to come is yet to be determined in the days ahead.
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