A little common sense goes a long way
Good sense trumps rules in Brockton
Kudos to Brockton School Superintendent Joseph Bage. The Brockton 7th and 8th grade hockey players were ivited to participate in “Friendship Series 2004″ at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. That entails a week-long trip to Canada. The problem was the school policy saying five absences in one term earn a student an automatic failing grade in every class.
Bage listened to parent and student requests and made an exception to the policy to allow the students to attend the series without automatically flunking school.
School Department officials were initially hesitant to grant the exemption. Absenteeism is a problem in Brockton and Bage, concerned about keeping up attendance at the junior high and high school levels, didn’t want to create precedents for students leaving school in favor of trips and outside activities.
But in consideration of the unusually circumstances and value of the trip for the students, he relented.
Bage didn’t capitulate on parents’ request that the players’ older siblings be given the same dispensation. But the compromise was fair and it demonstrated a flexibility that is too often “absent.”
It’s so refreshing to see items like this. Congratulations to Brockton and thanks to Mr.Bage!