Jacob Barton, sophomore, was planning to invite Students for Life’s (SFL) Ozarks Regional Coordinator Kendall Hirte to speak to the members of MHS’ SFL club before finding out that a new policy restricts him from doing so.

“We have to keep changing the dates. It’s ruining the club meetings,” Barton said. 

A district-wide policy that went out to teachers on Thursday, April 18, restricts non-curricular clubs from having guest speakers during Ac Lab. Instead, clubs must host speakers before or after school and they must be approved. 

A definite list of curricular-based clubs, which are not affected by this new rule, is not currently available, as club rules will be changing for the 2024-2025 school year. 

“If they can have speakers, we should be able to have speakers too,” Barton said. “We have always wanted her to come. It just doesn’t always work out.”

Barton said the SFL club will run their next meeting at 3:40 p.m. today, rather than their usual meeting time during Ac Lab, in order to host their guest speaker. 

Activities Director Adam Starling said all the non-curricular speakers will still be vetted, but it will occur through the club sponsor and an administrator instead of the Partners in Education (PIE) office.

“I don’t think there’ll be many changes at all,” Starling said. “It’s just a difference in protocol, not necessarily the result.”

Ray Holmes, librarian, said speakers hosted by the Library’s organizations are considered curricular based, but speakers from non-curricular-based clubs and other organizations that utilize the Library space will fall under the new restriction.

Holmes said his one concern with the change is it may limit opportunities for students to hear from experts and professionals in various fields.

“Ac Lab is a perfect time for students during the school day to not only focus on academics but also to get access to extracurricular opportunities,” Holmes said. “Not every student can come in before school or stick around outside the school day.”