Hi ETHS! We’re Echo Allen, your Student Representative to the School Board, and Isaac Slevin, your Vice Student Representative.

The District 202 Board of Education or ETHS School Board is a governing body comprised of seven locally-elected members. As a non-voting member of the School Board, the Student Rep has the ability to comment on Board proposals and decisions, voice student concerns directly to board members, and orchestrate student-led policy proposals. The student body is constantly changing. Every school year there are 900 new students with unique perspectives and lived experiences. What makes the Student Rep effective is hearing from you about your needs and ideas. 

The second key role of the Student Rep and Vice Student Rep is to lead Student Union, a group of student activists and advocates that meet every Thursday in W311. We work on policy solutions to school issues. In this column, we’ll update you on news from Student Union and the School Board, as well as tell you about upcoming ways that you can engage!

Student Union

One of the most notable policy initiatives currently set to happen is starting in the 2020-21 school year, you won’t have to leave class to get a pass when you are tardy. A committee formed by members of the ETHS administration, the IT department, and Student Union is still working on exactly what the implementation will look like. While there are a few solutions on the table, please reach out to Echo if you have ideas!

Students made it clear to Student Union and ETHS administrators that the tardy policy needed to be changed at last year’s Witherbell Forum. The Witherbell Forum is an annual event where classes and individual students go to the Hub to discuss their perspective with and ask questions to administrators. This year’s Witherbell Forum will be held all periods on December 2nd, and it’s open to all classes, as well as students with a free period.

Student Union isn’t just a space for discussion, it’s a space for action. We worked with a student activist and rewrote the dress code policy. We successfully changed Board policy so students can use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. We’ve also hosted a variety of events, such as a town hall for US Representative Jan Schakowsky and a political debate between the Evanston mayoral candidates before the last municipal election. We depend on your voice and your support to identify and address ETHS’s needs.

School Board 

EDays are here to stay. Last school year ETHS piloted the e-learning day or “EDay.” Since then, the program has been revised and refined. This 2019-2020 school year, in the event of an emergency non-attendance day students will be assigned 42 minutes of work for each class period they miss. 

In order for you to be marked as present you will sign in using a Google Form that will be accessible for the entire 24 hours of the EDay. You will access the assignments through the Google Form. If you are not able to to sign in because you can’t access the internet you can submit an “excused absence” as if you missed a regular day of school. You will have two days to make up any missed work. 

After our first EDay the district will survey stakeholders which means YOU. It will be important for you to provide feedback on how the e-learning day went and how it could be improved in the future.

Until next time…

Stay cool. We are excited to positively impact our school with you all!