The main campus club structure will change for this school year due to new Texas legislation and lack of teacher sponsors.
“The 89th Legislature passed some new legislation surrounding clubs over the summer,” principal Dr. Amy Boughton said. “Our teachers, in a staff survey, reported that they did not want us to continue to have clubs during second period.”
On Sept. 1, Senate Bill 12 went into effect after being passed over the summer. The bill bans clubs relating to gender identity and requires parents to sign a permission slip for every club their student joins. Previously, students only had to get forms signed for clubs that were non-academic.
“If we don’t get a permission slip and a student attends a club, [we] can lose [our] certification and job,” Boughton said. “No one wants to risk that.”
Less teachers have agreed to sponsor clubs for various reasons. The roster of available clubs is still being decided.
“The reality is none of us want to lose our license or certification over [clubs],” Boughton said. “The answer is to find ways to do this that fall under the legal guidelines put out. But it does take some convincing [when] people’s livelihoods and certifications get threatened.”
Previously, clubs on the main campus met during second period. Students who attended club meetings would go to B or C lunch after. Students who were not in a club, or had a teacher that sponsored a club, would be sent to a different room.
“There’s a number of clubs we [need] to have to make this work logistically,” Boughton said. “We [need] to have over 50 clubs in order to have enough students [for it to] make sense for us to have them during the day and cover all the [students] who didn’t want to go to a club.”
While club dates have not officially been announced yet, a number of clubs have already commenced. Presentations about club opportunities are going to be shown in advisory before the end of the nine weeks.
“Whatever is happening with clubs this year is very confusing,” English teacher Donna Friend said. “[It’s] seven weeks into school, we’d like to start having club meetings.”
Presentations about club opportunities are going to be shown in advisory before the end of the nine weeks.
“[Clubs kept] being put on the back burner,” English teacher Kaysi Sheehan said. “We’ve been up in the air, not knowing what’s going to happen. There’s just not been a lot of organization.”
Last Friday, the administration and teachers had a meeting finalizing club scheduling. This meeting has fallen about a month later than previous school years.
“I want us to get going,” Friend said. “Clubs are for the benefit of students, and they build Hawk Pride. When we don’t offer [them], they miss out on an opportunity.”
Update:
Clubs will be scheduled before and after school. There will not be a designated club time during the school day for the 2025-2026 school year.
“[There is a] challenge of not having club time built in during instruction,” Boughton said. “Having students stay in and not miss so much instruction is positive, but I’m not sure that I see a positive [outside of that].
Presentations regarding clubs are scheduled to be presented during advisory time next week. Late buses will run after school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to accommodate clubs. Late buses may be added on Mondays if there is enough demand. Teachers voted against in-class club time due to already losing instructional time during second period, due to pep rallies and advisory.
“I feel like the kids are disappointed,” Boughton said. “It was a part of our culture. We have to try to keep whatever fidelity we have going, then try to advocate to get that time back.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 23.
