The Paperwork

Well-designed paperwork should be unobtrusive, efficient and have a purpose: paper should serve people, not vice versa. Once paperwork escapes these boundaries it becomes a force unto itself and becomes a pain to manage. We will need paperwork to run the House system effectively, but we can keep it to a minimum. At some time in the future, perhaps we can go paperless; but initially, the low tech route lets us concentrate on other aspects of the system and provides a simple way to validate House points. Because we all know the real purpose of this paperwork: to validate points.

I'm approaching the paperwork with three precepts in mind:

1. Students are ultimately responsible for acquiring validated points for their respective Houses. (Can't we all see Noah or Mel sweeping an outstretched arm toward the door and roaring, "Bring me points before the tolling of the last bell, or there will be consequences!"?) In other words, as I used to ask my daughter, "What's the use in having kids if they can't run errands?"

2. Teachers, administrators, coaches, or other staff members who want to award (or detract) points should have a simple way to do it; otherwise, they will not bother.

3. We should guard the sensitive nature of detracted points by using staff members to collect them.

Students who are House members should have blank forms with them at all times. These would be small, quarter-sheet-sized forms that students could present to teachers for points on exams or essays, or give to coaches to validate points scored in an athletic event. Students should be doing this on a regular basis in a timely manner (same day is best) for all approved activities or situations. Once the adult signs and dates the paper, the student gives it to the appropriate House officer for processing.

Teachers and administrators should have access to a basic form to record points that they wish to award or subtract. We can have them available in the staff work room, or place them in the mailboxes at intervals during the semester. When the form is completed, it can go to a collection box in the library or staff work room for processing. The teacher does not necessarily need to know what House membership a student holds for this system to work (explanation below).

Points subtracted for first period tardies, detentions and/or Saturday school (if we decide on these areas) should be reviewed and processed by House staff members only to protect student privacy. I know - the students usually know who's in the hoosegow before we do, but the proprieties must be maintained! I do not think that we should subtract points for anything more severe than Saturday school. To me, a suspension is too serious to be considered in the realm of House points.

So, we have three streams of input: students working independently, teachers placing forms in a collection box, and information from the school tardy/detention records. House Scribes will process student forms as a matter of course for their own Houses. For the other two streams, I propose that we establish a rotating schedule of a week's duration in which the House Scribes take turns in collecting and distributing the teachers' forms and information from the school records. We can have a simple summary sheet for the week that is given to the other House Scribes, signed by the one doing the work.

A similar summary sheet can be used to record wins and losses for lunch time games or competitions with copies to each House.

Each House will be responsible for its own documentation, but for the sake of time, I think that each House Scribe should maintain an accounting sheet for each category that is established under the point system. (Noah's previous post listed five possibilities.) That way, if there are any questions, we do not have to wade through all of the point accounting, just the points for a particular category.

Also, for the sake of time, I propose that at the end of each semester, the points are reviewed, validated and accepted by all Heads, and the summary sheets for all categories closed out. This will allow the Scribes to toss all the supporting paperwork detritus and clear their files for the new semester. If there are any disputes at the end of the year, we have only the spring semester records to review, not both semesters.

It's a little premature at this point to write about the forms themselves, but when the time comes, I'll be glad to draw up some simple designs for the different forms. Incorporating House colors on some of these forms will make the job easier; adding crests and mottos will make it more fun.

On a side note, I have a few ideas about document designs for the membership drive which I discussed with Noah. If we plan the paperwork carefully, sorting through it should not take long at all.