One of Ryan Madison's campaign promises when he ran for Student Council president, "honor cards," will come to fruition this week for honor roll students at Cooperstown Central High School.

"Last year we had some vandalism at school and it took away some of our liberties," said Madison. "We thought some good honest kids were being punished for what a few bad kids did."

So the idea of honor cards was born. Measuring whether a student is trustworthy enough to have special privileges based on GPA is a temporary measure, Madison said, because the Student Council wanted to get the program up and running to test for glitches, which can then be corrected during the summer.

"The long-term plan is to measure the amount of pride a student puts into their work and the amount of effort put forth, despite a student's average," Madison said. "Teachers will be the judge of it."

The district, like all others across the state, recently received a report card with information about the scores of standardized tests taken by fourth and eighth graders. Principal of special programs and projects David Pearlman said last week that socioeconomic factors tend to contribute to how well a student does in school, although he added that not all wealthy students excel, nor does economic disadvantage imply academic failure.

District superintendent Mary Jo McPhail said that the honor cards are a way of rewarding students who meet a specific set of criteria.

"One thing I made very clear," McPhail said, "is that these privileges are not to be tied solely to academics."

But they will be, at least until the end of the school year, according to high school principal Gary Kuch.

"The concept was put forth as an honor card — a privilege card — for kids who work hard and demonstrate responsibility and trustworthiness. From this week until the end of the school year the cards will be based on academics because that's the easiest way to give it a trial run and see what the glitches are."

The cards, according to Kuch, allow students to go outside during study halls, a privilege currently afforded only to seniors, or to the library or other sites on the CCS campus. Students will not be able to leave school property and will still be subject to the Code of Conduct at all times. Honor card students can also leave classes 1 or 2 minutes early for lunch, and will be able to park in the lower parking lot.

Madison said the Student Council would like to expand the privileges to include free or reduced admission to Student Council dances and sporting events. Teachers will always know where students are when they sign themselves out of class.

"The idea is to try and recognize students who demonstrate an incredible work ethic," Kuch said. "The goal is to make it avalibale to everyone. One of the criticisms by faculty and staff is that it's discriminating to use the honor roll as a gauge, but that's temporary."

Kuch said part of the program's appeal is that it cuts down on paperwork that teachers have to do now that new SAVE legislation requires constant attention to attendance, period by period.

Madison called the card a "permanent hall pass." He said there has been dissent among non-honor roll students about the validity of gauging personal trustworthiness by grades. He said he's hoping in the future that a student lounge might be included among the roster of spots available for students to hang out in lieu of being in study hall.

"I don't want these cards to be given to just a select few. The vast majority should have them," Madison said.