WESTFIELD – The first open house of the 2013-2014 school year was a first for new Westfield High Principal Jonathan Carter in more ways than one.
It also marked the first time during his short tenure that parents were able to cast votes for who would represent them on the WHS School Council, an advisory board.
Recently, rumors had been floating around regarding changes to the district’s dress code, which has caused an uproar of sorts lately, and Carter used last night’s open house as an opportunity to set the record straight on what exactly the evening’s procedure would entail.
“That (rumor) got out somehow,” he said of the notion that there may be drastic changes implemented to the district dress code last night. “We’ve contemplated how we’re going to deal with it (the dress code), but quite frankly, it’s a non-issue at the moment. It’s quiet, kids are doing the right thing, we’re having no issues with it.”
Carter would go on to explain the Council election process, and what it would mean for the school.
“(The Council) addresses policy issues and any other issues within the building,” he said. “One of the first orders of business is to take a look at the (dress code) policy, because we don’t make or change policy. What we can do is create guidelines to help clarify.”
Parents were handed blue ballots upon entering the Montgomery Road school with the names of 19 of their peers, the most in school history according to Carter, and were tasked with selecting the six parents they believed would be best suited to represent their needs and concerns on the council.
According to Carter, the council would be comprised of 24 members, with representatives from the school’s student body and faculty composing 12 members
The other half of the council will be made up of six parents, Carter, his three assistant principals, the high school’s special education supervisor, and the school’s athletic director, Karen Gomez.
According to Carter, the votes of the around 500 parents who visited the school, which has a student body of around 1,500 students, were collected from each home room in the school this morning, and tallied by someone “not in administration”.
As voted by their fellow parents, the following fathers and mothers of WHS students will be serving on the council, which is set to meet on the first Monday of every month, The first meeting is set for September 30 at 5 p.m.
Debbie Houle, David Huntley, Joanne Papadimitriou, Kelly Paradis, Tom Walsh, and Tammy Ward are now set to begin their tenures on the council, and Carter already believes strongly them.
“Its role is to serve as an advisory board, to oversee the operations,” he said. “We’re going to go through the proper channels and do it the right way. I’m absolutely thrilled.”
Student and faculty representatives will also be selected before the first meeting.
