GRHS Seniors: Don't Kill the 'College List' [Poll]

The annual list detailing where graduating Glen Rock seniors are going to college may not be published this year, and it's stirred up the senior class.

Principal John Arlotta has recommended the list –annually published in the school newspaper – not be printed in 2012 to offer sensitivity to students embarrassed they didn't get into their choice school, and to those in difficult economic circumstances.

"On the surface it seems harmless but if you think about it, the fact is that some students could feel either embarrassed or ashamed about maybe not going to a college that measures up with other kids," Arlotta, who's in his first year at Glen Rock High School, said Tuesday. "Over the years we've had not a majority, but a minority of students who have asked us to stop doing the list for those reasons."

Though the student council representative to the school board said Monday night that the senior class understands the rationale, students feel majority rules and tradition are critical points to consider.

"I personally have looked at college this list since I've been in 6th grade and so has the rest of my class, always wondering what will be next to their name," said Trisha Thadani. "The fact that this year this is the year it's being abolished is really, really unfair and it's really struck a nerve with our class."

Thadani, who when addressing the school board Monday night said she spoke for the whole senior class, said those in favor of quashing the list are a small in numbers, if they exist at all.

"We have not spoken to a single person who is for having the college list abolished," she exclaimed, addressing Superintendent David Verducci and the nine-member sschool board.

Arlotta on Tuesday denied there was any fictionalizing, stating that some students and parents have approached administrators asking them to not publish the list.

"We have had a large group of students who disagree with not putting this in, banking on tradition," he conceded. "The majority of students do want people to know where they're going but there are a small minority of students [who don't]. As a principal I have to think of those students too and not just the majority."

There is traditionally an opt-out clause for inclusion on the list that appears in The Echo, but Arlotta said publishing with omissions would create the very situation he's trying to prevent, drawing attention to those looking to avoid it.

"I feel strongly I think it's unfair to those students," Arlotta said. "That's how I feel personally and I know people agree."

The principal said he offered as a measure of compromise having students write whatever they want in the back pages of the legacy section, which didn't appear well received by the students.

It's not the first time the issue has cropped up in the halls of the Harristown Road school. A similar measure to drop the list was offered up in 2010 but ultimately was rescinded after student complaints. Thadani is hoping the same lobbying will ensure history repeats itself.

"It's not a done deal yet," Arlotta said, remarking that he discussed the matter with Verducci Tuesday morning. "I'll definitely entertain it after last night [Thadani's appeal to the school board and superintendent]."

What do you think? Should the district publish the list? Take our poll and add your comments below.