The Pasco County School District can’t stay out of the news. And it has nothing to do with standardized tests or school letter grades. It has everything to do with common sense.
First, it was for giving serious consideration to doing away with the graduation ritual of honoring class valedictorians and salutatorians. They’ve been hammered by those, including Fox and Friends, who think it’s another sign of diluted standards.
Choosing vals and sals is, of course, all about GPA, which used to be a lot simpler to calculate. That was before virtual schools and dual enrollment scenarios. That was before Advanced Placement and online courses. And what of students who ace everything–but their ace-ing is limited because of extracurricular activities and a part-time job? It’s not a level playing field–in a game that separates winners and also-rans by hundredths of a point. Not fair.
Now we are reminded that tobacco is still an issue; not all Pasco schools are tobacco free in 2014. In fact, more than half aren’t. It’s a (United School Employees of Pasco) contract loophole. Schools that opened before 1996 are not included in the prohibition. As a result, tobacco use is allowed unless the staff unanimously agrees to ban it. And, yes, school district administrators remain appalled.
They should be–by the smoke as well as the common-sense, public-health-defying rationales.
USEP has treated the issue as a bargaining chip requiring a quid pro quo to go smokeless in Pasco. As if the obvious health benefits of a smokeless environment were subject to negotiation–not unlike, say, class size, sponsor pay and planning periods.
USEP leaders say that unilaterally giving up smoking areas is a slippery-slope scenario dictating lifestyle decisions. And that trying to take away a contractual provision underscores the administration’s disrespect toward teachers.
Respect, however, is something to be earned. Second-hand smoke, smelly faculty lounges, malodorous teachers, student disregard and hypocritical role-modeling are not worthy of respect. Where there’s smoke, there’s ire. As there should be.
And, yes, Hillsborough County schools ban tobacco use.