The leadership counsel made the right choice to exclude juniors from applying to the ASB officer team


Though the ASB elections have ended, and the new ASB team has been decided, one question has yet to be answered—should juniors be allowed to be on the ASB team? On the March 8, the leadership class voted whether juniors should be allowed to join the currently all-senior ASB team. The policy proposal was not passed, and they had made the right choice.

Their decision was the right one: juniors should not be allowed in the ASB officer team.

If juniors were able to run for ASB, it is probable that the junior and senior class would compete for positions. Not only would this increase class competition, but also this would allow unqualified candidates to win the position. Imagine if a legitimate pool of upcoming senior candidates ran against one junior. The junior, perhaps regardless of qualifications, would probably receive much of the junior vote; thus, unqualified candidates may be elected solely based on his grade level.

The fact that juniors are still less experienced than seniors is undeniable. In a business environment, an employer would most likely hire the more experienced candidate. As an ASB officer, having more experience would be better fit for the job, especially since many juniors are booked with other activities, such as SAT’s.

Even though it is a good idea to expand to the junior class in order to “diversify” the ASB officer team, in reality, there is still a major loophole. If students want to allow more representation, then why not have all classes run for ASB office? Just allowing juniors and seniors to be elected still creates a favoritism towards the upperclassmen, and the problem “of unequal representation” would still exist.

The current system does not call for change. Some may think that an all-senior ASB officer team is a way for the senior class to dominate the school. However, on the contrary experience is still king. As the old adage goes,if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.