It’s hard to believe that something like the student honor roll
has actually become an issue at San Benito High School. But it has
and the administrators and school board members who suspended this
simple form of recognition for academic achievement deserve a
failing grade for common sense.
It’s hard to believe that something like the student honor roll has actually become an issue at San Benito High School. But it has and the administrators and school board members who suspended this simple form of recognition for academic achievement deserve a failing grade for common sense.
The high school hasn’t had an honor roll for several years. Why? It’s not because there haven’t been plenty of bright, hard-working students who earned the requisite 3.0 grade point average. It’s because someone – apparently a lawyer, although nobody seems to recall just who – suggested that making public the traditional list of students with good grades could constitute a breach of confidentiality that might land the school in legal hot water.
It’s true that the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects the privacy of student records kept by schools. That means, for example, that people can’t walk in off the street and get a look at Johnny’s attendance record or the grades on Katie’s transcript.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, it doesn’t mean that schools are prohibited from releasing an honor roll. Jim Bradshaw, a spokesman for the federal agency, told the Free Lance, “The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act permits school honors to be disclosed to the public.”
If there’s a case in which a high school in the United States was actually held legally liable for releasing an honor roll list, Bradshaw was unaware of it and it didn’t show up on an internet search of academic and court-related sites.
Students who qualify for the honor roll might like to include that information on their college applications. Parents surely would love to share the good news with friends and family, or at the very least display a newspaper clipping of the honor roll listing on the front of the refrigerator.
What on earth could be wrong with publicly recognizing young people who go to class, do their homework and pull down good grades by listing their names on an honor roll? The achievements of athletes at San Benito High School who excel on the football field or basketball court isn’t kept secret. Why should the students who do well in English, math and chemistry be denied this simple form of public recognition?
San Benito High School administrators and school board members need to come to their senses and correct this ridiculous situation. When they do, the Free Lance will be proud to publish the school’s honor roll.
