This is not about limousines. It’s not even really about prom, either. It’s about the principle, not the principal.

Yesterday, Principal Jacqueline McEvoy announced that every student attending prom this year will be required to take a charter bus to and from the event, rather than being able to choose between taking limousines or buses.

Dance policy, bell schedules, reenactments, and now a limousine ban: the latter situation may seem inane (and indeed may be), but we see this latest decision simply as another in a long line of its type.

Putting the tradition and luxury of limousines aside, McEvoy’s emphasis on making prom more affordable is reasonable and fair. But what’s missing is the objective and open approach in addressing the student body, especially as, according to junior Associated Student Body spirit commissioner Olivia Diamond, two thirds of the junior and senior classes signed a petition started by ASB against the limousine ban.

At Paly, students are not afraid to be vocal and active with important issues. ASB plays a significant role in student activities and has historically organized prom transportation. ASB has been communicating with Mosaic Global Transportation since August 2008 in preparation for prom to avoid problems that came up during last year’s prom, according to Senior Class President Becky Byler.

“When she [McEvoy] first brought up the idea [using buses for prom] in September, it was not at all clear that we’d be trying it this year,” Byler said. “When I found out it was happening for this prom, I was shocked and extremely disappointed. It seems as though she made the decision without thinking through all the consequences, which are now being brought up after the fact by ASB.”

McEvoy has swept ASB’s responsibility to organize prom transportation away with her decision, leaving members of ASB feeling upset and disregarded. Because ASB was not able to participate in the decision-making process, problems previously unforseen by the administration are now being brought to light. A few of these issues include transportation to and from Paly, where the buses will meet, and schedules for arrival back at Paly. Those who attend the prom will get back to Paly around 1 a.m. after the dance, and many will not be allowed to drive home due to the 11 p.m. curfew imposed on new drivers. Another issue is that ASB would have no way of predicting attendance in advance and thus have no way of over- or under-booking the number of buses.

“ASB has worked really hard and spent a lot of money on prom already,” senior Spirit Commissioner Lucy McComas said. “McEvoy’s choice will probably decrease prom attendance, and as a result cost either ASB or participants even more for empty seats.”

Both McComas and Byler clearly indicated that they would have preferred to know about finalization of the decision further in advance so that they could have ample time to find solutions to some of the resulting issues raised by the switch to buses.

In her letter to Paly parents sent yesterday, McEvoy emphasized the multilateral nature of her decision: “After many conversations with different groups of parents, students, teachers, and community members — and a great deal of personal reflection — I have decided that our students will be taking buses to the prom this year.” But while McEvoy says that she consulted students, there was never a formal meeting or announcement made to the student body during the decision process, according to Byler. Most students first heard of the situation when ASB began circulating a petition, anticipating that McEvoy would finalize the limousine ban; unfortunately, it was most likely already too late. With prom just two and a half months away, there isn’t much time for the administration to begin a school-wide inquiry about transportation methods.

It seems as though this decision was made without regard to students’ views, without an attempt at a discussion with the entire student body, and without the opportunity for consensus. We appreciate the difficulty of pleasing everyone at a school as active as Paly. Yet, if the administration keeps disregarding the opinions of the majority of the student body, it will continue to fail in its responsibility to serve the interests of the Paly community. The relationship between the administration and the student body has been fragile and testy since McEvoy’s arrival, but it is not too late to salvage it. The student body should give the administration the benefit of the doubt — it’s ridiculous to say that McEvoy is deliberately trying to destroy every enjoyable aspect of Paly, as some claim. By the same token, the administration should also give us, the students, the benefit of the doubt when important decisions are on the line.

The administration should have worked harder to include students earlier on in the decision process. It could have held open meetings with all parties (parents, students, faculty, and members of the community) to solicit student opinion and made earnest attempts to compromise with all views presented. Now that McEvoy has sprung this “solution” on the Paly community, she is facing an uproar of rightfully surprised and frustrated students. If the administration had made the entire decision-making process an open one and a compromise between groups rather than a choice that blindsided the majority of the student body and ASB, then students would have undoubtedly received the decision much more favorably.

Compromise is crucial. We, the students, are often more mature and better informed than we are given credit for. Let’s also remember that the administration is more benevolent than many students are willing to admit. Nonetheless, there’s an obvious communication gap between the two parties, which has clearly resulted in several severely mishandled incidents. Students are often unaware of conversations that McEvoy has with parents or faculty about decisions that will directly affect them. It will take open-mindedness and a commitment from both sides to look beyond our mistakes and the quick judgments that have been made in the past.