Within Highlands High School (HHS) some rules and regulations are listed in the handbook as well as teachers and staff acknowledging them daily.
There were questions about the HHS Student Handbook for a better understanding and realization of why they were put in place.
Page 19 of the Student Handbook, states: “4 tardies = 1 day of absence.”
Assistant Principal Jennifer Forgy elaborated on this more by stating: “Well, you have to set a time for tardies and so 8 o’clock is when we’re supposed to be at school. So really whether it’s 10 minutes or 1 minute, it’s still tardy.”
Most High School students want the ability to leave school or sign themselves out when they turn 18 years old. The school has regulations for students, but there are things that they have to follow as well. On page 21 of the Student Handbook, it states: “Regardless of the student’s age, they must be signed out to leave campus for any reason.”
Forgy detailed by stating: “There are some exceptions. We do have some kids who are emancipated from their parents. So in that instance, we wouldn’t have to call. Most of the time if somebody is sick we want their parents to know just in case they get sick on the way home. It’s more of a practical thing than anything else. There are some exceptions when someone is 18, but we want their parents to know where they are all the time if they live at home, still part of their family, and certainly if they are sick because what if they passed out on the way home? That would be dangerous.”
Juniors and seniors have trouble finding a parking spot near the school in the morning. There is a parking lot for designated individuals who bought the pass, but the older students have jobs after school and do not have time to get out of the traffic. This leaves students walking in late to the building and not making it to their classroom seats by 8:00 am.
Page 22 of the Student Handbook, states: “Tardies 1-3 = warning for each.” Mrs. Forgy commented: “When you come in and you have to sign in and get a thing from Mrs. Bodner, she will usually let you know this is #1 this is #2. She may not say it for the first couple, but once it gets up there in number she will let you know. Then of course you get love letters from me after the 4th.”
Page 24 of the Student Handbook, includes 2 bullet points about the regulation within the Academic and Attendance Deficiencies moving towards academic and licenses.
Within this category, Forgy gives more information about what this is by stating: “That’s
a state law. That’s not something that’s Highlands High School. You have 9 absences and need good grades. You could lose your license because of that such as failing and not coming to school, that’s a state issue. We have a 96% attendance rate, so we have a very good amount of students coming to school.”
Page 33 of the Student Handbook stated: “Derogatory nicknames, slurs, intimidation, name-calling, insults, put-downs…..”
Forgy goes on towards the sports teams as much as everyone else by stating: “Yes, anytime you are representing our school whether it’s chess club or football or whatever. If you call someone a bad name and somebody reports it we will hand out some discipline for it. And not that the discipline is the important part, the important part is the conversation you have as you’re being disciplined.”