Publication Date: Friday, February 18, 2005
Restraining orders break up robotics team
Restraining orders break up robotics team
(February 18, 2005) School administrators hope legal action does not portend greater trend
by Alexandria Rocha
Local school officials expressed concern this week after conflicts between four Gunn High School students led to restraining orders and the dissolution of the campus' renowned robotics team.
Last month, two students on the Gunn robotics team received restraining orders at the request of two classmates, causing veteran teacher and advisor Bill Dunbar to shut the program down and take a leave of absence.
About 50 students were on the team and enrolled in a required technology engineering class. This is the first group in nine years that will not head to the robotics nationals in Orlando, Fla., in the spring.
Students on the team and in the class work in a close-knit group on one large project -- a robot to enter in the national competition. Since two members are now under restraining orders against two others because of separate harassment issues, Dunbar thought it was best to cancel the program for the remainder of the year.
Because the students are minors, their names and the details of the cases have not been released.
"What a disappointment. Our robotics team has a legacy of prize-winning," said Mandy Lowell, vice president of the school district's Board of Education. "I guess the same thing would have happened if the whole team came down with mononucleosis."
Many past and present Palo Alto Unified School District officials had never heard of students filing restraining orders against each other. Teachers are now expected to step in and curb any possible interaction between the two sets of teenagers.
"The courts are not an ideal solution of interpersonal dispute, they're sort of a last resort. Most people find other ways to resolve issues," Lowell said. "I have heard of serious disagreements, threats of fighting, thoughts that some guy was over aggressive to a girl, cattiness of people in cliques -- but the people involved find some way to work it out."
Three days after the restraining orders were granted on Jan. 28, Dunbar decided to take a leave of absence, citing exhaustion and disruption of his program. Soon after, Gunn's Principal Noreen Likins and Marilyn Cook, a district assistant superintendent, told the students the team had been dissolved.
Despite the meeting, students were hurt and confused about the situation. Some students even thought Dunbar had been fired and wore "Free Dunbar" T-shirts until learning what really happened.
"It's unfortunate that the team can't continue because Mr. Dunbar has put so much work into this to make a place for students to feel comfortable and a place to hang out," said senior Kristian Lyngbaek, a 17-year-old team member. "It meant a lot to a lot of students."
The allegations have prompted district administration to discuss its policies, particularly regarding complaints and how to handle them, said Cook.
"We're very concerned about the level of criticism and conflict that we're seeing," she said.
Most involved say the recent incidents will probably not lead to a greater trend of students resorting to legal action to resolve problems. However, they are not ruling it out.
"I would hate to think this is the new way of dealing with problems or concerns. If this is an insight into things to come, then I fear it will drive people out of the (teaching) profession and/or discourage them from entering it," Likins said.
"It is a drastic way of dealing with things that could and should have been resolved in other less harmful and divisive ways," she added.
Staff Writer Alexandria Rocha can be e-mailed at arocha@paweekly.com.
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