By Luthea Sweeney, photo and design editor
Policy 122 defines extracurricular activities, the limitations of said activities, and their guidelines. At a glance, the major changes include requiring students who wish to form new clubs to submit a proclamation stating that they are doing so of their own free will, and that all club minutes will be subject to Pennsylvania’s Right to Know law.
The definition of Policy 122 is stated as such: “For purposes of this policy, extracurricular activities shall be those programs that are approved by the Board and are conducted wholly or partly outside the regular school day; are marked by student participation in the processes of initiation, planning, organizing, and execution; and are equally available to all students who voluntarily elect to participate.”
The following language was added regarding athletics: “Athletic activity is considered an extracurricular activity and for purposes of this policy, an athletic activity shall mean all of the following:[2][3]
An athletic contest or competition, other than interscholastic athletics (Policy 123), that is
sponsored by or associated with the school, including cheerleading, club-sponsored sports
activities and sports activities sponsored by school-affiliated organizations.[4]
For these types of activities, the inserted new rules regarding to whom the financial responsibility falls: “Students may assume all or part of the costs for supplies, travel and attendance at extracurricular events and trips.” “
This document continues to discuss additional extracurricular activities now including secondary level students stating, “… secondary students may meet for voluntary student-initiated activities unrelated directly to the curriculum, regardless of religious, political, philosophical or other content of the speech related to such activities.”
One major change involved the formation of new clubs. As of Jan. 12, secondary students forming clubs (minimum of three students needed to form a club) shall submit to the Board a Proclamation Form (see below) certifying that they formed the club of their own free will and were not pressured by a staff member. It includes a reference to 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 4904, which deals with making false statements to public officials and can carry a fine of $1,000. This proclamation and the club’s constitution and/or bylaws must be approved by the school principal and superintendent before being submitted to the board for approval.
The new policy also includes the following: “Minutes shall be recorded at every meeting and shall be available upon request by the Board and other authorized personnel or the public through Right To Know Law.” (NOTE: Neither Crawford Central nor Conneaut Area school districts include these provisions in their policies governing clubs.)
To continue, the original authority section was scrapped and replaced with, “The Board shall make school facilities, supplies and equipment available and shall assign staff members for the support of extracurricular activities for students. Such availability and shall be in accordance with the Equal Access Act.”**
Under the Delegation of Responsibility section, the board delegated responsibility to the Superintendent to assign school principals to review adherence to Policy 122 and a club’s refusal to comply with this policy will result in the end of this extracurricular activity.
Under the Guidelines section, the board added items 8-13:
8. “The advisor will work with students on specific activities as defined in the extracurricular activity’s constitution. Each advisor will have the overall responsibility for his/her organization and will comply with all policies and protocols.
9. All extracurricular activities must have as their basic purpose the intellectual, social and physical development of the students or the furtherance of the general goals of the school and/or district.
10. All extracurricular activities must have a written constitution setting forth the purpose of the organization and a set of bylaws detailing the governance and operations of the organization.
11. The bylaws of the extracurricular activity must specify the methods by which funds are raised and the purpose for and methods of the disbursement of funds.
12. The advisor is to ensure that all finds [sic] are raised and distributed in compliance with the constitution and bylaws of the extracurricular activity. She/he will ensure that the extracurricular activity’s secretary maintains meeting minutes to document all decisions, particularly in regard to fundraising and expenditure activities.
13. Parents/guardians and the community shall be notified of the creation of new extracurricular activties or clubs.”
These are the extent of the changes made to Policy 122 originally adopted on Oct. 10, 1985.
**Note: The sentence above comes directly from the policy as passed on Jan 12. In searching this policy in other districts, it appears that the word “assignment” has been omitted.
