My name is Christian Hernandez, I have interviewed Robert Schwandt, known as the Assistant Principal. He had a discussion with the school about the no-go list and wanted it to happen so that students could be on time and make sure to get to school. If they didn’t, there were going to be consequences in terms of participation in senior events. This no-go list will help improve attendance and also reduce the number of tardies.

Christian Hernandez: What made you guys come up with the no-go list?

Robert Schwandt: The no-go list is something that a lot of different schools or school districts do. It’s a minimum kind of baseline of what we expect of our students, not just to go to activities but we expect all of our students to have a 2.0 and to have no more than one F, to be on time to school, and to be showing up to classes. So we just made some baseline requirements, if you didn’t meet those baseline requirements, we wanted to make sure you guys were aware of it and to give you an opportunity to get off it because that’s the expectation of all students.

Hernandez: What is the purpose? Do you believe the no-go list will encourage students to attend school or be on-time more often?

Schwandt: The purpose of the no-go list is to start a conversation. So at the beginning of the year, we talk about, “Oh you need to be on time, you need to make sure you are here in school, making sure you are attending your classes and getting good grades.” Somewhere along the school year, we kinda lose focus on that right, something comes up. This thing is happening in my life or me and my friends are just here to have a good time. So the no-go list was meant to be a kind of a refocusing kinda conversation. So students would talk to me, talk to their teachers, their coaches, their club advisors about, “What am I doing that is putting me on the no go list so that I can get off it?” It was meant to be a conversation starter so that students can connect with different adults so they can get off the list.

Hernandez: Do you believe the no-go list would encourage the students to attend school more often?

Schwandt: I view it as students aren’t coming to school because there’s probably something else going on. The no-go list was never designed to, “You are on the list, you better come to school.” It was more a, “There’s something happening and we would want to find out what’s happening so that we can help you or support you so that you can get off the no-go list.”

Hernandez: In the first senior assembly, you said that students could buy their senior activity tickets if they weren’t on the no-go list, and in the second senior assembly, you said that there were no refunds. Why aren’t there refunds to the students who already bought their tickets and are now currently on the no-go list? 

Schwandt: Because there’s still an opportunity for you to get off the no-go list. So you pay for them, I want to come up with a plan rather than just being like “Oh I’m on the no-go list, there’s no way.” No, there is a way and I want to help you ‘cause you paid for these things and I want you to go, but we have to come up with a plan to get you off the no-go list.

Hernandez: Do you think it is fair for the students that paid for their senior activities to still attend them even if they are on the no-go list? 

Schwandt: So, like I explained in the assembly I would consider the attendance stuff and academic stuff, you have no more than one F, no more than 54-period absences, and no more than 54 tardies. It’ll be like the basic standards of all students, not just seniors. If you are absent that much or tardy that much, obviously there’s something distracting you from being from school and there can be a lot of things going on. The point is that those are the baseline so if you have other things going on in your life, cool, but these are school activities, these extracurricular activities. If coming to school is something not important to you or cherishing what school is, then the activities that go with you, you just can’t say, “Oh I want to go just for the activities and not for the school part.” That’s why the no-go list is there, but yeah, even if they pay for them, I don’t want to say you can’t come and no refund just ‘cause I want money. It has nothing to do with money as much as you pay for them, so I hope you understand the importance showing up to school, making sure your grades are good. I’m encouraging others to do the same. I don’t want to try to take people’s money or their refunds just like they paid them, let’s come up with a plan to get you on the right path, that’s my whole goal of the no-go list. So, you mess up. Whether it be good reason or bad reasons, whatever it is, let’s talk, let’s build a plan to get you off the list so you can go to these things and enjoy.