STUDENTS TO OFFER REGULAR INPUT TO ALEX SCHOOL BOARD

When the Alexander Local School Board adopted a new student
drug-testing policy last summer, it ran into a firestorm of
opposition from some district families.

Those speaking against the new rules included some Alexander
students, who argued that board members were out of touch and were
overstating the level of student drug use in the district.

Now, with the policy rescinded, two school board members who
supported it voted off the board in November, and a third having
resigned, Alexander Supt. Bob Bray wants to make sure future board
decisions aren't made without hearing from students.

Bray and new school board member Gordon Brooks have taken steps to
organize a student advisory committee, which will offer input on any
proposed school board actions that could have a major effect on students.

"I'm sure there are other places that have them," Bray said
Saturday. "It's really to give (students) a voice on some issues
that pertain to student life."

Spearheading the effort on the student side is senior and Alexander
Student Council member Megan Moseley, who at the request of Bray and
Brooks helped put together the membership of the first Alexander
student advisory committee.

"They came to me and asked me to kind of get things going," Moseley recalled.

She said the defined membership of the group will be two high school
seniors, two juniors, one freshman and sophomore each, and three
middle schoolers.

"We'll meet once a month for most of the school year, and twice
during the summer," she reported. Including middle-school students,
she said, is meant to provide a process by which the committee can
introduce younger students to the process early, and provide some
continuity of membership over the years.

The group will focus on issues that could have a direct impact on
students. Its first major assignment, for example, is to review the
student handbook and conduct code, which may be coming up for
revision. The committee has also discussed the parking situation at
the Alexander school complex in Albany, Moseley said.

The student said she's enthusiastic about the committee, which she
hopes will give the larger student body a channel through which to
communicate their concerns to the school board.

"It's really nice, because it's opening up communication between the
school board and the student body," she said. "A lot of students are
too intimidated or nervous to talk to the school board about issues
they have."

While the current advisory committee's membership was mined from
Student Council, Moseley said that membership on the committee will
be potentially open to any student.

Members will be required to attend designated meetings with the
school board, or risk losing their seats, and will be expected to
keep the student body up to date on any plans by the board that
could affect their day-to-day lives at school.

"If the school board is planning on doing anything relating to the
students, we will be the first to know," she promised.

Moseley has already attended a school board meeting, where she
informed the board about the committee.

Bray said the committee will be purely advisory, but that the input
it provides won't be just for show.

"It's an advisory committee, but their opinions will be considered,
and will be considered seriously," he promised.

What if such a committee had been in place before the board decided
to require urine testing for drugs among student athletes,
cheerleaders and those who drove to school?

"I think that the board would have had a different feel for where
the students were on that issue," Bray speculated. "Because I think
the drug-testing policy was really more adult-driven."

The student advisory committee met Wednesday evening in the high
school library.