Bill Farnie
01-26-2004, 08:30 AM
What do all you Volunteers think of this?
Source: Matt Gouras - Associated Press - Jan. 25, 2004
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The school honor roll, a time-honored system for rewarding A students, has become an apparent source of embarrassment for some underachievers.
As a result, all Nashville schools have stopped posting honor rolls, and some are also considering a ban on hanging good work in the hallways, all at the advice of school lawyers.
After a few parents complained that their children might be ridiculed for not making the list, Nashville school system lawyers warned that state privacy laws forbid releasing academic information, good or bad, without permission.
Some schools have since stopped academic pep rallies. Others are rethinking spelling bees. And schools across the state may follow Nashville's lead.
Many parents are upset.
"This is as backward as it gets," said Miriam Mimms, who has a son at Meigs Magnet School. "There has to be a way to come back from the rigidity."
Nashville school lawyers based their decision last month on a state privacy law.
Some school systems already get parents to sign a release before student information is made public. Others may get rid of the honor roll altogether, as Principal Steven Baum did at Julia Green Elementary in Nashville.
"The rationale was, if there are some children that always make it and others that always don't make it, there is a very subtle message that was sent," he said. "I also understand right to privacy is the legal issue for the new century."
Baum said he thinks spelling bees and other publicly graded events are leftovers from the days of ranking and sorting students.
"I discourage competitive games at school," he said. "They just don't fit my worldview of what a school should be."
What's gonna happen to all those "My Child is an Honor Student at XYZ School" bumper stickers?
Source: Matt Gouras - Associated Press - Jan. 25, 2004
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The school honor roll, a time-honored system for rewarding A students, has become an apparent source of embarrassment for some underachievers.
As a result, all Nashville schools have stopped posting honor rolls, and some are also considering a ban on hanging good work in the hallways, all at the advice of school lawyers.
After a few parents complained that their children might be ridiculed for not making the list, Nashville school system lawyers warned that state privacy laws forbid releasing academic information, good or bad, without permission.
Some schools have since stopped academic pep rallies. Others are rethinking spelling bees. And schools across the state may follow Nashville's lead.
Many parents are upset.
"This is as backward as it gets," said Miriam Mimms, who has a son at Meigs Magnet School. "There has to be a way to come back from the rigidity."
Nashville school lawyers based their decision last month on a state privacy law.
Some school systems already get parents to sign a release before student information is made public. Others may get rid of the honor roll altogether, as Principal Steven Baum did at Julia Green Elementary in Nashville.
"The rationale was, if there are some children that always make it and others that always don't make it, there is a very subtle message that was sent," he said. "I also understand right to privacy is the legal issue for the new century."
Baum said he thinks spelling bees and other publicly graded events are leftovers from the days of ranking and sorting students.
"I discourage competitive games at school," he said. "They just don't fit my worldview of what a school should be."
What's gonna happen to all those "My Child is an Honor Student at XYZ School" bumper stickers?