The Senate meeting on Wednesday, February 14 began with a discussion of upcoming events sponsored by the Senate. Open Mic Night will be held on Friday, February 16 beginning after school. The self-defense class will be held on Saturday, February 24. Acting President Bihotza James-Lejarcegui said that another class may be held in future.

“Best Buddies wanted to do one for them,”  James-Lejarcegui said. “This one is for boys and girls, so there might be another one for just girls.”

The Senate considered changing the policy for the Homecoming court to make it more inclusive of trans* individuals.

“We talked about making it…gender-neutral, so you vote for anyone,” Zoë Butler ’19 said. “The people wouldn’t be Homecoming king and queen, it would just be Homecoming royalty.”

Due to the insecurity of voting in previous years, the Senate also discussed alternative methods for counting votes at Homecoming.

“There are some companies out there that offer a vote service that is more secure than TallySpace,” Tygrett said. “Because otherwise, we’re counting four hundred votes by hand…whatever money it would take for a service to do it would probably be worth it.”

Maya Durham ’19 led discussion on the Grant Fund and limiting grants given to clubs. Over the 2016-2017 school year, Durham said, the Senate gave out more money than usual and as a result this year its budget has been limited.

“When we started the year our balance was $5600…we fluctuated because of Homecoming,” Durham said. “We’re down to $4700 or something right now. Get the word out about funds for clubs and we should also have a discussion about the limit on that.”

The budget “gives us $3000 max” for club grants, Durham said.

The Senate plans to sell “The School That Feeds” shirts from the 2016-2017 school year and will be using the proceeds to buy more food for the Food Pantry in hopes of revitalizing the program.

James-Lejarcegui wanted to improve the Dress Drive.

“I think there should be a committee soon because prom is coming up,” James-Lejarcegui said. “We need to find out where we can put [dresses] and when.”

The Senate meets every Wednesday morning in room 3311 at 8:15 am. To learn more, contact Steve Tygrett, the primary faculty advisor, or attend meetings, which are open to all students.