Administrators are investigating the cause of a fire alarm that went off today during sixth period, disturbing students hard at work on their finals.

"Our teachers are freaking out," junior Jonathan Steinmen said. "People don’t know what’s going on."

Palo Alto firefighter Manny Macias said, "We’re not sure what’s going on, it sounds like someone pulled the fire alarm in the boy’s weight room." Assistant principal Chuck Merritt later said he suspects a student pulled the alarm.

According to principal Scott Laurence, there were no construction workers in the room at the time the alarm went off.

Firefighters searched the Small Gym, which includes the weight room, to make sure that everything was okay.

Although it was a false alarm, students nonetheless had to evacuate to the football field, according to the new disaster policy.

The math department did not evacuate along with the rest of the school. "Most of the students and teachers in the 200, 300, and 400 buildings did not evacuate," campus supervisor Scott Reese said.

Hearing the alarm, the head of the math department, Suzanne Antink, called the front office. "I called Vallen Queen," Antink said. "I said, ‘We’re in finals; what do you want us to do?’ … If it wasn’t finals we would be out the door in three minutes."

Administrators initially said they would not comment on the math department’s decision not to evacuate, but further discussion on what to do in future emergency situations is intended, Laurence said.

Laurence also said he plans on visiting classes to see what reactions were, and what teachers plan to do regarding test-taking time. Laurence said extending finals into lunchtime was an option. "In 14 years at Paly there has never been an alarm during finals," Reese said.

There were numerous concerns expressed about students cheating on their exams as a result of the disturbance. AP Biology students brought their textbooks out to the field, and were allowed to study during the evacuation.

"It’s a total waste of time," sophomore Elizabeth Horen said. "One, it takes away from the focus on finals; two, there is probably loads of cheating going on; and three, we will probably have to stay longer [at school]."

Some students did indeed take advantage of the extra time. "I got a chance to check my answers with my classmates," admitted one student, who asked not to be named.

However, some teachers had a contrary opinion regarding how much this disturbed their finals. "I don’t think it will affect finals at all," English teacher James Hanmer said. "It’s a beautiful day and people need a break." Hanmer also admitted he wasn’t giving a final during that period.

Despite the interruption, it was good that people evacuated according to the emergency plan, Merritt said. "I think people will bounce back from the alarm … It’s not convenient and it’s an interruption, but I’m glad that people responded right away with emergency procedures."

The following staff members contributed to this story: Bryce Atkinson, Kristen Barta, Sean Blum, Jessie Ebert, Kristie Flateley, Adam Heeger, Weiqi Hu, Nathan Lui, Anna Luskin, Elena Marinelli, Laura Mitchell, Thomas O’ Connell, Alex Ochowics, Jim Shen, Mike Sorgenfrei, Katie Tseng, and Taylor Whitfield.