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BUTLER - Student is reinstated into NHS
(by Stephen Janoski - Staff Writer - July 01, 2008)
BUTLER - In a quick turn of events, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Rene Rovtar reversed a Butler High School faculty committee’s decision to deny student Kyle Wikfors’ entrance into the National Honors Society (NHS). The decision came on June 18, one day before Butler High’s graduation, thus allowing Kyle to wear the NHS medal with the rest of his graduation attire.
“The student appealed the initial ruling, and it was my decision that he be extended membership in the NHS,” Rovtar said.
She said the decision was based on the information that she reviewed from the faculty committee, as well as a meeting she had with the student.
Carol Wikfors, Kyle’s mother, approved of the ruling:
“It was the right thing to do. I think (Rovtar) realized it, the judge realized it, and the commissioner of education realized it.”
The committee’s decision to deny Kyle’s entry was based on an incident that occurred in his sophomore year in 2005. Halfway through a final for chemistry class, teacher Michael Klobus discovered a study guide with several formulas on Kyle’s desk. Klobus explained that the matter needed to be addressed and notified Kyle’s parents.
Klobus could not give Kyle a zero because he said he could not be sure that he cheated, so he allowed Kyle to retake the test. He averaged the new grade based on the number of answers Kyle completed on the test— the resulting grade was a 67.
Carol Wikfors became concerned that the incident could affect her son’s admission into the NHS, and consequently, his college application process; those concerns were realized when Kyle did not receive an invitation to the NHS induction ceremony in the spring of 2006.
Two years of arguing followed, with the case finally ending up in front of a state Administrative Law judge, who ruled on June 4 that Kyle be allowed to apply for NHS membership. On June 13, the commissioner of education ruled in agreement with the Administrative Law judge, saying that Kyle should be allowed to apply.
Following those rulings, Kyle was formally given an application for NHS induction. There is a two-step process for reviewing applicants: first, every member of the high school faculty rates the student; then, the student’s credentials are evaluated by a faculty committee that makes the final decision.
In the faculty committee’s meeting on Tuesday, June 17, it was decided that membership still would not be extended to Kyle. According to committee members, the reason for the decision was that “Kyle did not meet some of the necessary criteria for acceptance.”
This is the decision Dr. Rovtar reversed a day later, finally putting an end to the nearly three-year-long dispute.
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