Student Involvement on the School Councils

The School Council is a state mandated committee that consists of parents and staff members who support the principals. The School Council approves the school budget and puts forward the school improvement plan (SIP). As of March 2012, student representatives are an integral part of the process and provide a forum for student voices. The group meets monthly and all members have full voting privileges.

Student involvement on the School Council is significant as educational issues are discussed quite frequently. School Council is a committee on which students can learn more about their school, the budget and programs. Students have the opportunity to articulate their thoughts in a more formal manner and gain an understanding on how power is exercised in a council setting. Because the school council is one step above the school-based student councils, the power is more tangible.

Although the students usually vote for their representatives, Mr. Malone, Assistant Principal at Amherst Regional Middle School, states “The teachers initially select students as first time representatives. This was done as a way to make it easier for students to understand the council process. One fear was that students would sign up to represent but have no prior knowledge of what their responsibility as a council member would be. Another was that students would feel intimidated to serve on a council with parents, teachers and principals.”

At ARMS, two students were chosen from the seventh and eighth grade to represent the full student body. Each student had to write an essay explaining why they want to participate on the School Council and list their leadership qualities and experience.

Now that students have a strong voice on the School Councils, their ideas are on how to improve education and the school are heard loud and clear. These ideas add to the depth of discussion and could provide more ideas which would better the schools. Principals, faculty and adult members welcome these voices and appreciate the work the students do on the School Councils. In exchange, the student representatives gain a firsthand knowledge of how educational systems work and how new programs are initiated in the system.