After the safety concerns that arose in February, school officials review the practicality of gathering all 5,000 students into one room for all school convocations, according to Principal Tom Harmas. Harmas said students, teachers and community members brought up possible safety concerns with the school’s current style of school recognition.

“When we have all 5,000 students in the gym, it’s great to see everyone in one room. It’s great to see all the student recognize the accomplishments of the school,” Harmas said. “However, once we get into our third state championship team, it is hard to keep the focus of all 5,000 people sitting in that room.”

Harmas said the administration has started to question the specific purpose of the convocations and will continue to review it until they make a definite decision.

“This leads us to the question: are we doing a service or a disservice to the students by recognizing them that way? Before we can make any kind of decision, we need to figure out if we are doing things like Class Day for the students or because the teachers and administration thought it would be a good idea,” Harmas said.

Student body President Ben Goldberg said after the discussion about the convocation at the last PAC (Principal’s Advisory Council) meeting, many PAC members encouraged Harmas to have at least one all school convocation per year.

“I completely understand where Dr. Harmas and all the other administrators are coming from, but they can’t discount the fact the student groups need to be recognized for the amazing work they have done. Yes, it could possibly be a safety hazard and it is hard to garner focus of everyone there. However, being recognized at this convocation is a fond memory for me and many other students here,” Goldberg said.

Harmas said the school does not plan to cut out student recognition all together, just modify their approach of doing it.

Harmas said, “We are still looking at what things students like about the convocation. While we plan to change what we do right now, I’m sure we will find some kind of alternative solution that still recognizes students.”