Lillian Huang
This editorial represents the opinions of 14 out of 14 Outlook editors
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The Associated Student Body’s recent handling of club minutes has made it clear that their process for receiving and adapting to student feedback is far too slow and inefficient. Yet, as an organization elected by the students, the most basic duty of ASB is to represent those opinions — but in order to do so, there must be more consistent and more transparent communication between the two bodies.
Since November, 14 clubs have been put on probationary status for failing to submit weekly meeting minutes on time, meaning they were prohibited from meeting for the two weeks following their notice. This status is dictated by a three-strike system, one strike given as a warning each time a club fails to submit meeting minutes properly. 44 clubs — nearly half the clubs at Aragon — received at least one strike at some point last semester, and 32 clubs total have received at least one strike this semester.
While the strike system is an appropriate measure to ensure clubs meet regularly and gives ASB oversight power over all clubs, the lack of transparency has caused immense confusion and frustration for clubs this year. Clubs were shocked in late November when ASB notified various clubs of reaching three strikes and being put on probationary status immediately. ASB had reversed the policy about ending the strike system without making an official announcement or revising the club handbook. Instead, they had sent warning emails as warning strikes without explicitly saying so. Furthermore, ASB began to require clubs to submit their meeting minutes on the day of the meeting or else receive a strike, a policy that wasn’t explained until some clubs had been put on probation.
Hearing and accepting student input is a core responsibility of student government — one that ASB has failed to meet this year. This feedback from the student body not only would hold members accountable but would also ensure that they are able to accurately represent the voices of the students who elect them each year. In fact, it was upon hearing feedback from clubs about the lack of transparency that led ASB to acknowledge their mistake and reverse the probationary statuses of many clubs. Had ASB accounted for student opinions earlier on, the time it would have taken to reach a solution for this issue could have been substantially shorter.
In the past, Town Halls have provided a way for students to give input. These meetings, held during Flex time with members of ASB and class councils, gave students a chance to provide feedback on things happening at Aragon. However, this tradition has been discontinued this year.
We believe Town Halls were and can continue to be effective in helping to bring student input to ASB and class council. ASB should re-implement the process from last year, randomly selecting students from each grade to participate during Flex to ensure diversity while opening up the meetings to volunteers to ensure fruitful discussion. Finding one room per grade that could be used for Town Hall and notifying chosen students of their selection is a simple process that will yield significant results.
While there were concerns regarding the effectiveness of Town Halls in the past, which ASB has cited as their reason to stop hosting them this year, this system would be able to thrive with reform. First of all, student government must be able to establish what is actually under their jurisdiction, so meetings remain focused on issues that can feasibly be addressed. Once these guidelines are set, discussions should be guided with more focused prompts regarding the organization of events, club management and school culture. The most important aspect of Town Hall though, is accessibility; in order to make communication with ASB more efficient, there must be multiple methods for students to contact their student government — one such idea being an increase in Google Forms. These forms should be available to both the students in Town Hall, as a form of written reflection, or for those who do not want to speak in the larger group or could not attend Town Hall.
Finally, to keep ASB accountable, the Outlook proposes that a monthly summary system is established and pushed out to the student body by email that outlines ASB actions that month and goals for the future, so students may be able to see when and if their issues are being addressed.
