Administrative, Schedule Changes, Stricter Guidelines Mark Present Day McKinley
With the onset of the fall term, some 2,500 students scrambled in the gymnasium as computerized registration for the whole year, instead of by semesters, took place. This was only one small part of the many changes that the school year was to bring.
Changes were also made in the administrative and faculty staffs resulting in the appointment of Mathew Kaonohi as a second vice-principal and eleven new teachers joining the staff of 129.
Immediate reactions to the new bell schedule ranged from apathy to contentment to disfavor among many returnees as they found adjusting to the new activity and tutorial periods quite difficult.
Many students also found adhering to the strict guidelines imposed--the restriction of off-campus privileges to those enrolled in co-operative education classes or with parental excuses, and the setting up of off-limits areas, geared to prevent outsiders from entering the campus--hard to follow despite the three day suspension penalty. Special campus counselors were appointed to remind and counsel offenders.
Initiating a one-year experimental program on January 26, the Board of Education loosened their ban on smoking on public high school campuses and allowed smoking in designated areas for students fifteen years old and above, directed at relieving the congestion of smokers in restrooms.
As the 1976 school year progressed, many classroom studies and discussions turned to the Bicentennial and other related topics.
A special week of celebration in January, which featured an assembly and a square dance, further evoked students' awareness of the Bicentennial.
McKinley High School Class of 1977
