Letter to the Editor: Fairness Imposes Penalties for Missing Davening

As a former faculty member and advisor to the Fairness Committee at Shalhevet, I think the Fairness Committee has always been one of the best things about the school.  In the above case, however, I must agree with both Dr. Friedman and Ms. Gill

Shalhevet is not, as the Fairness Committee maintains, a representative democracy.Shalhevet does not have a student council as in many schools, where students elect representatives who meet to discuss various issues or to plan school events. Having the whole community gather together in a Town Hall to discuss and decide on proposed policy makes Shalhevet a direct democracy.

Unless the Shalhevet Constitution has been amended to give the Fairness Committee the power to make policy, it seems to me that the Fairness Committee cannot do so. What it can do is bring the topic to the Agenda Committee for discussion by Town Hall or make a recommendation to the Administration for further action.

Dr. Jill S. Beerman