By Ali Novak CNA Board Member
Alliance High School requests, receives temporary adjustment to Good Neighbor Agreement with CNA
At the March 8th CNA board meeting, Concordia’s Alliance High School Meeks Professional Technical Campus principal Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse, presented our board with a proposal to allow modification of an existing Good Neighbor Agreement, dating to 2004. The agreement, signed when Alliance took over the Meeks campus, prohibits school activities after 5pm. It also has restricted students from extended hours for social events or even tutoring.
The students of Alliance are seeking permission to host a prom on campus for about 75 students sometime in May. Attempts to find an alternate location have failed, due to high costs of venue rental.
Alliance High School is described in their executive summary as “an alternative educational experience for students who have not experienced success in traditional high school environments. The program seeks to provide academic, social-emotional, and professional-technical opportunities that motivate students to remain in school to learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to become a contributing member of society.” The curriculum mixes group and individualized instruction in the pursuit of relevant career-technical education.
The Alliance program includes an emphasis on social skills and community in the Alliance Meeks program, where students participate in a social-emotional “boot camp” for their first six weeks of enrollment. Students are encouraged to organize and champion themselves, with a Black Student Union, Hispanic Student Union, and Gay-Straight Alliance now represented on the campus. The request for a prom seems a natural step in developing the social experience for Alliance students, and was met with positive response from the CNA board.
The board approved an event to take place on a date to be determined in May, on either a Friday or Saturday, that will end at 10:30p.m. Clean-up and campus closure will be concluded by 11p.m. The board hopes that the positive relationship between Alliance with its neighbors can continue, and requested that Alliance communicate with its neighbors to present the proposed event, and bring any significant concerns to the board for consideration. The CNA Board will also consider expansion of the activity hours for future events based on the success of this new addition.