• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Nov 11, 2009 - Page: 1BA

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LAFAYETTE — Superintendent Burnell Lemoine has a new cadre of advisers — students.

A districtwide student advisory council was recently selected by area middle and high school principals.

The students will have their first meeting with Lemoine in December, he said Thursday.

So far, no agenda has been set for the inaugural meeting of the student group.

“It will be more of a dialogue,” Lemoine said Thursday. “I want to open it up to things that they’d like to discuss and things that they think are real pressing.”

Students are ready for the opportunity.

“Not everything we’re going to agree on but it’s nice to have your voice spoken,” said Lindsey Derouen, 18, who will represent Charter High.

Derouen also views the council as a way to educate her peers about her school. The school was created as a drop-out alternative, with students completing self-paced computer courses and attending classes in the afternoon and evening.

“We want our school recognized,” Derouen said. “We’re not an alternative school.”

Lemoine called for an advisory council to be formed after student objections to district policy changes that prohibited cell phones and hooded clothing from campuses.

More policy changes are planned for the next school year related to school uniforms. Lemoine has said he wants student input on the revisions.

“One of the things I think we’ve had a tremendous problem with is our dress code. We can get their input to see how we can get that to work better for us,” he said.

Students were asked to volunteer for the council.