The Executive Board of the Parents’ Association (PA) sent an e-mail Thursday, October 11, to Principal Stanley Teitel addressing the PA’s opposition to several recently implemented policies.
According to the e-mail, the PA opposes the lunch policy, which requires students to scan out for lunch. Students are marked late if they enter the building at the end of their lunch period, and have their out-to-school privileges revoked after multiple latenesses.
“The parents wanted to express their opposition to the increasing restrictions,” PA Co-President Paola de Kock said.
The message states the lunch policy does not protect the security of the students and “[seems] simply punitive.”
“The policies are somewhat arbitrary. For example, students coming late just a few minutes after lunch, I don’t see a reason for that,” de Kock said.
Initially, the PA did not take a stance on the issues.
The PA October Bulletin said the PA was deliberating on whether to take an official position and encouraged parents to provide feedback.
According to De Kock, an influx of replies opposing the policies prompted the PA to send an official letter to Teitel in support of the students.
“Presumably, the teachers are perfectly capable of dealing with students who are late to class; and students who have a free period right after lunch are being punished even though they’re not late to class,” the e-mail said.
“The punishment does not fit the crime,” Parent and Senior Representative Alternate to the Student Leadership Team (SLT) Beverly Marshack said. Marshack said the punishment was of a “punitive nature.”
Student Union (SU) President Jamila Ma said the letter was a “very strong effort shone by the parents.”
“The Parents and the SU share the same goals,” she said. “Because the parents are the parents, their concerns will produce a stronger effect.”
The PA sent the letter following an October 4, 2007 Spectator article that revealed that Department of Education regulations do not prohibit students from going out to lunch.
In the article, Vice-President of Business Development Erick S. Johnson of Access411, the company that manufactures the scanners, said the scanners could be programmed to allow students out for their lunch period.
The PA’s e-mail also said, “There seems to be no security-related reason to prohibit students from leaving the school during frees.”
In the October 4 article, Teitel said he would not change the policy. The PA urged Teitel to consider re-addressing the policies through further negotiation with the SLT, PA Health and Safety Committee, and the students.
“The new changes have already damaged the morale and taken away from the positive environment that makes Stuyvesant High School more than an educational institution,” the PA said in the e-mail.
Teitel declined to comment for this article.
