Paly administrators will reduce the proposed restrictions on certain types of dancing in an attempt to parallel Gunn High School’s dance policy.

The enforced policy will not place restrictions on the direction the dancers must face, in contrast to the administration’s earlier decision not to allow front-to-back dancing. Also included are restrictions that require students to keep both legs on the ground and prohibit anyone from being lower than 45 degrees from the vertical, according to a Facebook.com message from ASB President Mohammad Abid and sent to the Paly Homecoming 07 group by ASB Tech Communications Officer Jon Shan.

This decision allows time for students who had originally planned on boycotting homecoming due to the rumored changes, to decide whether or not to attend.

Principal Jacquie McEvoy stated that Paly’s dance policy has not changed – only the enforcement of the pre-existing rules has been affected by the new administration.

Dean of Students Jerry Berkson said, “‘No back to front dancing’ was a way of saying ‘face to face dancing is the simplest way not to get in trouble.’ It’s not that you can’t bump and grind face to face.”

McEvoy says the decision was made in part after consideration of the Gunn policy.

“We looked at Gunn, and we want consistency between the schools,” said McEvoy. “We’re going to build on what Gunn has already done. I personally would have been stricter. I would have said no front to back dancing. Still, we want to go the distance and meet the kids halfway. We gave students the benefit of the doubt.”

McEvoy and Berkson agree that ASB played an important role in the decision-making process.

“We met with ASB,” said Berkson. ” They were really the voice of the students – which they should be – and they expressed their concerns. They were upset with how things were stated.”

“Mohammad was really involved,” said McEvoy. “He knew we had to do something. [Members of ASB] weren’t happy with the way we were enforcing our dance policy, so I told them to come up with ideas.”

“This is a compromise between what the students want and what the administrators want,” said Berkson. “We’re working on communication – we don’t want to offend the kiddies.”

Though the policy forbids dancing below a 45-degree angle, McEvoy laughed at the idea that chaperones would carry protractors.

“Excuse me,” she said jokingly. “Could you stop so that I can measure this angle?”

“It’ll just be ‘eyeballing,'” McEvoy said. “Mohammad mentioned a Freak-o-Meter. I don’t know if he was joking or serious or if such a thing really exists, but I’d like to see it.”

Part of Gunn’s current enforcement includes a video detailing appropriate behavior at dances. McEvoy says the students shown in the video are real Gunn students wearing mime masks. Administrators hope to have the video shown on InFocus and plan to play it as students enter the dance. According to McEvoy, the video is short (under five minutes) and will be played continuously.

“The video is the warning,” cautions McEvoy.

“The turnout for the Gunn dance was large – I’d like to say 800 people, and five couples were eventually asked to leave,” said McEvoy. “My main concern is that the students don’t understand what they’re doing and how it looks to chaperones.”

McEvoy plans to show the movie to the chaperones as well.

“I want the chaperones to see it as well,” she said. “Then the parents will come up with acceptable key phrases [to inform students their dancing is inappropriate].”

Administrators and chaperones will continue to use flashlights to identify students dancing in a manner not consistent with the dance policy.

“I think we’ll all get along at the next dance,” said Berkson. “I think there will be no problems.”

“I think we just want to move along and figure out how to change what is happening,” said McEvoy.