PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — School rules.
Number one: be responsible and respectful.
- Student petition caught eye of Fivay High School principal
- Change assures students won't be denied restroom access during class
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Number two: follow the dress code.
Number three: keep your hands to yourself. We’ve heard that before.
But rule number four is new this year: each student gets two bathroom passes per class per semester.
That one stopped Fivay High School junior Ashanti Hernaiz in her tracks.
“I was surprised,” said Ashanti. “I didn’t feel like it should be that way, so that’s why I wanted to make a change for it.”
A change that, through a petition, captured the attention of more than a thousand people, including Fivay Principal Jason Joens.
“I reached out to some students, put out some feelers to find out where the petition was coming from. And they kind of pointed me to the students that were fronting this movement,” said Joens.
Ashanti met with Principal Joens and learned rule number five: rules aren’t necessarily set in stone.
“Where else but at school should students be demonstrating good citizenship? Which means being a self productive and a contributing member to society,” said Joens.
Together, they redefined rule number four to encourage students to use the restroom between classes, but to ensure no student would ever be denied access during class.
Which leads us to rule number seven: don’t be afraid to speak up.
“Not many kids my age feel like they have a voice in school. I want to show everybody else that we do have a voice and it can be heard,” said Ashanti.
Principal Joens has also since created a principal advisory board, which Ashanti is a part of.
Each month they will meet to discuss any concerns students have to work towards a solution, because rule number eight is to be a problem solver.