Plano Senior High School has never given National Honor Society students special recognition on graduation day, but one family is hoping to rewrite the rules.
"I think they work so hard to attain that status," said Norman Frederick, a parent of a NHS student. "To not just recognize it at all and sweep it under the rug is being treated unfairly."
Frederick's son, Garrett, is graduating next week. He's headed to the University of South Carolina in the fall.
"Just leaving like that, it doesn't feel right," Garrett Frederick said. "I put in 60 plus hours and I kept my GPA above 3.6."
Honor graduates are recognized at Plano Senior High School graduation with a white stole, but National Honor Society students are not.
"Since the school opened in 1975, and with the first graduating class in 1976, students have worn one item of distinction during the graduation ceremony and that is the white honor stole for students with a GPA of 3.6 and above," said Lesley Range-Stanton, spokeswoman for the Plano Independent School District, in a statement. "We are aware that many honor students may not also be members of the National Honor Society, but the school has opted not to include additional regalia per tradition."
The longstanding practice was formally reviewed and discussed by student leaders and administration at least twice in the past, once in 2004 and again around 2008 or 2009, said Range-Stanton.
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The student leaders opted to uphold the tradition.
"I know we have the honor stole, but it's not the same. NHS is the commitment to the community. It's you going above and beyond," Garrett Frederick said. "We, in NHS, deserve to show off our accomplishments."
Each high school in Plano high ISD has established its own practices. The National Honor Society emblem appears on stoles worn at Plano East and Plano West graduations, Range-Stanton said.
Garrett Frederick and his friends in National Honor Society have considered starting a petition to change the rules at Plano Senior High School.
