Policy 7431

STUDENT ACTIVITIES
7431 STUDENT MEMBERSHIP IN THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY


Selection of students to the National Honor Society (NHS) is a privilege, not a right. Students do not apply for membership in the National Honor Society; instead, they provide information to be used by the local selection committee (i.e., the Faculty Council) to support their candidacy for membership. The school principal shall annually appoint a member of the faculty as chapter adviser, who may serve consecutive terms. The chapter adviser shall be an ex-officio, non-voting, sixth member of the Faculty Council. The Faculty Council shall consist of five voting faculty members appointed annually by the principal. No principal or assistant principal may be included on the Faculty Council. The term of the Faculty Council shall be one year. The Faculty Council may be appointed to consecutive terms. The Faculty Council shall meet at least once a year to review the procedures of the chapter, to select members and to consider non-selection, dismissal, other disciplinary actions, and warning cases. The Faculty Council will develop and revise, when necessary, all chapter procedures for selection, disciplining, and dismissal of members, all of which must remain in compliance with the national guidelines.

Membership to the NHS is granted only to those students selected by the Faculty Council in each school and is based on outstanding scholarship (which must meet or may exceed national guidelines as determined by the Faculty Council), leadership, service, and character. The National Honor Society is more than just an honor roll, and the extent to which the local chapter emphasizes the components of the selection process enumerated above should be carefully included in the selection process guidelines. The selection of each member to the chapter shall be by a majority vote of the Faculty Council. Once selected, members have the responsibility to continue to demonstrate these qualities. 

The selection process must be public information, available to parents, students, and faculty upon request. It may be published in student handbooks, the school newspaper, in parent newsletters, or some other publication that is widely available to students and parents and, in addition, should be shared at orientation programs for new students. Proper dissemination of information about the local chapter, particularly details concerning the selection process used at the school, will help prevent problems with students or parents who may wish to question the process. However, whatever procedure is followed by the selection committee, it must be fair, non-discriminatory, consistently applied, and written for public dissemination.

The principal shall reserve the right to approve all activities and decisions of the chapter; and he/she shall receive appeals in cases of non-selection of candidates, and the disciplining or dismissal of members. The National Council and the National Association of Secondary School Principals shall not consider appeals of the Faculty Council’s decision regarding selection of individual members to local chapters.




Adopted: 2/13/01
Revised:  9/6/22

Policy 7431