PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301 NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44
The Campanile
Vol. XCVI, No. 8
Palo Alto High School • 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 • www.palycampanile.org
Public records request made for Winston, six other district employees Palo Alto Weekly confirms investigating allegations of misconduct, Diorio stays mum By Hillel Zand
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Friday, March 28, 2014
AP Psych classes face cheating scandal By Michelle Yin
Editor-in-Chief
n the last month, the Palo Alto Weekly has made a public request of disciplinary files of former Palo Alto High School principal Phil Winston, three Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) administrators and three Paly staff members after first making a formal records request to the district. The newspaper confirmed that it is looking into allegations of misconduct and that it is currently in the process of gathering information and factchecking, declining to state when it will be publishing any formal report. Current principal Kim Diorio says she was notified of the Weekly’s inquiry “about a month or so ago.” The PAUSD website states that “the district will respond within ten days to acknowledge receipt of [a] request and provide a timeline when the information can... be disclosed.” PAUSD releases public records in accordance with the California Public Records Act of 1968 “unless there is a specific reason not to do so.” On March 26, a group of approximately twenty teachers met with PAUSD Assistant Superintendent Scott Bowers — the district official in charge of human resources — after an email was sent to Paly staff members notifying them of the Weekly’s inquiry. Sources confirmed that Bowers informed the teachers who chose to attend the meeting of the
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sarah tayeri/the campanile
The files of former Principal Phil Winston and six other unnamed district employees have been requested by the Palo Alto Weekly.
records request and said that faculty may choose to speak with media on their own volition. A source said that the district would issue a press release addressing the inquiry on March 26, but PAUSD Communications Coordinator Tabitha Kappeler-Hurley told The Campanile that the district had no information to release. A day earlier, she indicated that the district would in fact be releasing information on the 26th. “We’re looking forward and it’s not an issue on campus anymore,” Diorio said, not specifying what “it” is.
Winston announced his resignation in an email sent to members of the Paly community on June 18, 2013, after suffering “a life-threatening medical illness” — reportedly a staph infection —which he says caused him to “seriously reevaluate my priorities, health, and personal and professional goals.” The tenure of Winston’s predecessor, Jacqueline McEvoy, was marred by disciplinary scandals, most infamously an egg wars incident in October 2009 that cut short that year’s Spirit Week. While McEvoy was known for her troublesome relationships with students, Winston — who
was 33 when he was appointed principal — was known for being more laid-back and approachable, receiving much flack from the community for his nonchalant and dismissive approach to the annual tradition of Streak Week. “We’re focused on improving the climate at our school,” Diorio said. “We’ve done a really good work this year, we’ve hired a school climate TOSA [teacher on special assignment,] we’re... We’re working toward our shared vision for the future. It would not be appropriate for me to discuss a personnel matter or a former colleague of mine.”
Lifestyle Editor
n March 18, Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology teachers Melinda Mattes and Chris Farina gave the administration a list of students who are suspects for cheating on the free response portion of a unit test. Mattes and Farina speculated that cheating specifically through sharing the free response test occurred on the Unit Six exam two months ago. However, unable to ascertain this and unsure how to deal with the issue, Mattes and Farina pardoned the suspected dishonesty with a mere warning addressed to all AP Psychology classes. “We chose to believe that there weren’t a lot of people involved,” Mattes said. “Sometimes students make the wrong decisions due to environmental factors and we tried to appeal to the humanity and the goodness that I still believe is in all of us” According to Mattes, she sympathizes with the stress that many students face and as a teacher, she tries to remove some of the factors that contributes to that stress such as a different and slightly more lenient grading scale than the standard one used across most classes. However, she acknowledges that it is impos-
See PSYCH, A3
Not In Our Schools Week modifies approach to capture students’ attention ASB hopes to improve events after evaluation of last year By Haley Fang
PAUSD struggles to finalize bullying policy
SARAH TAYERI/THE CAMPANILE
More than two years after district was found to be in violation of several state and federal laws, PAUSD officials still looking for a solution
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By Sarah Tayeri Staff Writer
or over a year now, the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) has been struggling to agree on a concrete policy to handle bullying and harassment complaints. The district took a great step forward in the drawn-out process on Feb. 11, when it finally agreed to adopt a policy that targets “protected” bullying, a procedure that helps bullying victims with cases based on legally protected characteristics like sex, race and disability. However, on March 12, the district rejected yet another proposal addressing “non-protected” bullying, which would have laid out a procedure on how to deal with complaints about bullying that the law does not extend procedural rights to. The beginning of the process dates back to late 2012, when the parents of a disabled student attending Terman Middle School claimed their complaints to the school about bullying were not dealt with efficiently, or at all. After a lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights found that the district’s weak approach in handling the severe
bullying of the student had violated the student’s civil rights. More so, the investigators found that PAUSD had absolutely no complaint policy for disabled discrimination, which violates many state and federal laws. After these findings, it was clear that the district’s complaint procedure was in desperate need of re-examination, and PAUSD agreed to revise and approve its policies by March 15, 2013. However, over a year later, the policies are still unfinished. In an email sent in November 2013, PAUSD Superintendent Kevin Skelly, who has since announced his resignation, attempted to clear the district of criticism by defending its actions. “Let me reassure you that this delay in board policy and regulation has in no way affected our compliance with laws intended to keep students safe,” Skelly wrote. Seth’s Law, passed in July 2012, also mandated the adoption of the same procedures and added that all school personnel must intervene to stop discrimination bullying and harassment that they witness.
See BULLYING, A3
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Staff Writer
uring the fourth week of April, Paly will host its annual Not In Our School (NIOS) Week to inspire unity and encourage discussion about diversity. Overall, students have had mostly positive experiences in previous years with the week full of activities. Junior Rudra Aiyar was pleased with the events held last year. “The variety of performances and activities on the Quad really strengthened the school’s community throughout the week,” Aiyar said. “I thought that Not In Our Schools Week achieved what it wanted to, which was unity.” Associated Student Body’s (ASB) Cultural Commissioner junior Ellen Shuan has led the planning of this year’s NIOS week and has made an
effort to work in union with Henry M. Gunn High School to improve Paly’s activities. “After hearing about Gunn’s past NIOS, I contacted Gunn’s Diversity Commissioner Danny Golovinsky and asked him to help,” Shuan said. “Later, a couple of ASB members and I met up with him at Gunn and we talked over possible themes, logistics, budgeting and the way we could approach and organize this event.”
This is the first time that [Paly’s] Not In Our School Week is working with Gunn’s [and] has a NIOS decision-making body. Ellen Shuan
ASB Cultural Commissioner
Even though she enjoyed NIOS week last year, Aiyar had hoped for
more activities during lunch and brunch. “I hope that there are more events going on throughout the week [this year] that the students can engage in,” Aiyar said. “Last year, I think most of the events started to die out as the week progressed.” ASB has implemented changes to this week-long event, which will hopefully address the critiques from other students such as Aiyar. “This is the first time that [Paly’s] Not In Our School Week is working with Gunn’s [and] has a NIOS decision-making body,” Shuan said. With this new decision-making body, ASB will receive more input from students regarding the planned activities and how they will run the week instead of having ASB make all the decisions themselves. This is to
See NIOS, A3
Gunn principal announces resignation District veteran Villalobos latest in string of administrator departures
fter four years of leading the school, Henry M. Gunn High School Principal Katya Villalobos announced her resignation in an email to the Gunn community on March 24. Her last day in office will be June 30, the same day Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Superintendent Kevin Skelly is set to resign. Villalobos, who has worked in the district for nearly ten years — at Gunn and Palo Alto High School as a history teacher — stated in the email that she aims to “pursue new
opportunities, including a doctoral program.” “[Villalobos] has a good heart and truly cares about the well being of her students,” an anonymous Gunn parent posted on Palo Alto Online’s Town Square forum. “She has been in a difficult situation of trying to broaden the outlook of a faculty that seems to be particularly powerful and resistant to change.” However, Villalobos’s resignation came as a relief to some community members. “Gunn needs a capable, strong leader who can stand up to the cadre of teachers who have been running the school since [Noreen] Likins
SPOTLiGHT Buena Vista Trailer Park
sPORTs Rise of the 3-pointer
By Hillel Zand
A
Editor-in-Chief
left,” an anonymous Gunn parent posted on Palo Alto Online’s Town Square forum. “Gunn deserves a good principal.” The announcement marks a recent string of high-profile resignations in the district within the last month, following that of Skelly, three elementary school principals, the head of the Palo Alto Adult School and Jordan Middle School Assistant Principal Ellie Slack. “Let’s just say this: in her resignation email, [Villalobos] forgot to sign it and so she had to send out another one with her name on it,” Gunn senior David Patou said. “That sums up a lot.”
INSIDE N e w s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1- A 5 Opinion................................A6-A8 Lifestyle .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . B1, B6, B7, B8 StudentLife............................B2-B3 Spotlight ..................................B4-B5 Sports..............................................C1-C8
LIFESTYLE United for Ukraine
Local Ukranians protest Russian influence in their native country.
B1
Closing of Palo Alto’s only mobilehome park.
B4-B5
The importance and prevalence of knockdown shooters. C4-C5
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