Pace Principal: revisit student election rules

Pace Principal: revisit student election rules

By Deborah Nelson
May 27, 2009

Pace High Principal Frank Lay says the school will likely revisit the Student Government Association elections procedures cited as the reason class officers may not speak at graduation.

“We will be revisiting the [elections] policy,” Lay said at last night’s Pace Assembly of God rally to protest a decision to bar class officers from speaking at graduation. “As a matter of fact, we’d be glad to revisit it before school ends this year.”

Santa Rosa’s School Board says student speakers who were not selected “neutrally” may not speak at graduation.

Student body votes to select Pace High Student Government Association officers count for 25 percent of the total tally, according to a copy of the SGA constitution provided by the ACLU.

School officials, teachers, faculty and SGA members account for the remaining 75 percent of the vote.

The student body vote for sophomore, junior and senior class officers counts for 40 percent of the total count, with school officials, teachers, faculty and SGA members making up the remaining 60 percent.

SGA members may be “selected, elected or appointed by the Principal.”

Because student officers are not “neutrally” selected by other students, school officials can influence who may serve. School Board officials have said they’re concerned if those student officers pray during a school-sponsored speech, it may violate the terms of a consent degree that prohibits school authorities from proselytizing.

Pace High student body president Mary Allen, in a speech at last night’s rally, said she’d like to see rules and guidelines on future elections.

“Pretty much what it boils down to is, in the Consent Decree it says that student speakers must be picked based on a neutral basis. So, because whenever I was elected, teachers got to vote for me, they could have voted based on their personal religious values, and so I was not chosen neutrally,” Allen said.

“In my personal opinion, I feel like they told us what the problem is, so we need to fix it.” They told us we can’t speak because we weren’t chosen neutrally, so I feel like we need to choose officers neutrally. And so, from them I want rules and I want guidelines as to how we should elect the officers, so that [students following in my footsteps] don’t have to go through this same exact mess.”

Santa Rosa’s School Board signed the consent degree after a lawsuit alleging employees at Pace High were regularly promoting religious beliefs at school and leading students in prayer. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of two unnamed students.

As the school year draws to a close, Lay says Pace High would consider holding new student officer elections in the last few days, if the school board allows, that conform to Consent Decree requirements.

“We have seniors still that will be there three more days,” he noted. “If that’s at issue, we’ll be glad to load up right now and bring voting booths or whatever, to ensure that these students’ rights are given to them in regards to speaking.”

Both Lay and Allen, along with other rally speakers, said they’re concerned the School Board’s decision violates freedom of expression and religious freedom. Numerous rally attendees said they believe the Consent Decree, and the lawsuit, were designed to prevent students from praying in schools.

ACLU Northwest Florida Director Susan Watson says the agency has no problem with student prayer during school-sponsored speeches, provided the students have been neutrally selected to speak.