A student-led charge for a policy change at Great Brook School paid off last week when the ConVal School Board voted in favor of changing the school’s handbook to relax restrictions on head coverings in the school.
“I like wearing a hat, and I found it weird that we couldn’t wear a hat,” said eighth-grader Ayden Emanuelson. “So in advisory we took the time to email the principal to see how we could change the rule.”
The process started in the fall, according to school counselor Laura Gorlay. After coordinating with GBS Principal Katherine Foecking, the students reached out to the School Board and began the process of deciding what the new rule might be.
Previously, the school’s handbook stated that headgear, including hats, hoodies and caps, would not be allowed outside of religious, medical or other approved reasons. The new language, workshopped by the students with help from staff members, states that head coverings for religious or medical reasons would always be allowed, and that all other head coverings would be permissible in the hallways so long as they adhered to other dress code guidelines such as appropriateness for school. In classrooms, individual teachers will be allowed to set their own rules related to head coverings.
Paul Bolduc, an eighth-grade teacher who was involved in the process, said students surveyed school staff, administration, parents and other students to come up with a reasonable compromise.
“It had a bunch of pretty good questions going back and forth between students and teachers,” he said.
The School Board expressed concerns about adopting the new policy, and the vote was 7-6 in favor of adopting the change.
“I’m not sure the public clearly understands the impact it has within the school,” said Peterborough representative Dick Dunning. “One advantage of not having hats, bandanas and hoodies is that the teacher has the opportunity to look into the faces of students.”
Dunning and other board members also stated that there were concerns of consistency across classrooms and equity between middle schools, as South Meadow School has no such rule change.
Thus far, according to Bolduc and Gorlay, the policy change has been successful at GBS. Some students are wearing hats, and those that are have been respectful about removing them in certain classrooms.
Ayden said he was pleased to be able to wear a hat now, and that the compromises reached to get there have been successful.
“It seems fair,” he said. “I had a lot of help from my fellow classmates and teachers.”
Gorlay called the process a “good civics lesson” for the students.
“It’s about local community action and how one person or a few can make a difference,” she said.