Policy committee pauses student-clubs overhaul after board members warn it is too prescriptive

The Hamilton County Policy Committee on Monday opened a lengthy discussion of a proposed student clubs and organizations policy that would separate curriculum-based clubs from noncurricular clubs and add rules governing both.

Staff member Bennett told the committee the draft attempts to draw a legal distinction between clubs that are extensions of school programming and those that arise from student free speech. "You've got curriculum-based clubs and noncurricular clubs," Bennett said, and "we really need two separate sets of regulations." He added he was not ready to recommend the draft for a first read, citing unresolved questions in the draft.

Several board members said the proposal goes too far. "This is getting too regulated," Miss Thomas said, arguing the draft would encroach on principals' discretion to approve simple student groups such as chess or hobby clubs. Miss Jones said the policy must be careful not to bar community mentoring organizations. "I'm a member of Delta Sigma Theta...we have Delta Academy that supports young ladies," she said, asking whether youth mentoring programs or chapters that support students would be treated the same as a high‑school sorority.

Staff and other members said the policy would continue to prohibit secret organizations on campus while preserving a limited-open-forum approach that allows access for any viewpoint so long as it does not disrupt school operations. Bennett offered to work with administrators to soften language he said may be overly granular and to clarify the rules governing noncurricular groups.

The committee did not send the clubs policy forward for a March first read. Instead, members asked staff to revise the draft, to clarify the role of school administrators and to distinguish clearly between student-run clubs and outside organizations that provide mentoring or volunteer services.