East Lansing High School students will be exercising their right to speak to the school board at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
The students will be given the chance during public comment to voice their concerns over the out-of-state travel ban that school officials passed in November.
The meeting will be held in the Board Room of the Administrative Offices of East Lansing High School, 509 Burcham Drive.
The school board will not be able to make any decisions on the ban until its work session on Jan. 28. High school student Brett Gillespie said he has been talking to students to encourage them to show up.
Students with sporting events may not be able to attend the meeting, but he still expects support from his classmates, the 18-year-old senior said.
The public comment portion of the meeting might influence the board into adding the travel ban to the docket for the work session, Gillespie said.
“They informally supported the superintendent’s decision on the ban. I just hope at the very least a compromise can be reached somehow,” he said.
Concerned parents and students spoke with the board in December about the ban, but were unable to influence any decision on the issue.
More than 30 students are expected to show up for the meeting, 17-year-old senior Dave Shockey said.
The more students show up, the stronger the message sent to the board will be on how the ban has affected them, Shockey said.
“If it doesn’t get on the docket, then Wednesday is a question-and-answer session for the student body, so hopefully we will bring it up there as well,” he said.
No one has confirmed if the travel ban will be put on the work session docket, but it has been mentioned, Shockey said.
“I expect the board to see how many students are upset about the travel ban,” he said.
School board members are happy to see the students taking an active role in the issue but are not confirming when it will be resolved.
“I think the students are like anybody, and they have a right to voice their opinion,” School Board President Susan Schmidt said.
The board will listen to what they have to say, and the ban could very well make the agenda for the work session, Schmidt said.
But the issue will need some urgency to make the agenda for the next meeting, vice president Gary Buckberry said.
“It potentially could be (on the agenda),” he said. “I can’t say for sure whether it will or not - that would take some moving of some board members and whether there is enough interest in that.”
