A car that administrators suspect aided a group of streakers at Palo Alto High School, Wednesday, may have been driven by a parent and parked in the El Camino parking lot, pictured above.
– Jeffrey Lu
The Palo Alto High School administration is attempting to reach a Paly parent who allegedly served as a getaway car driver for a group of streakers who ran naked across campus on Wednesday during lunch, according to Principal Phil Winston.
“I’m definitely going to make contact with a parent who does something like that,” Winston said. “It’s not just that situation in it of itself, but it’s also about the message that it sends to the community.”
While the administration may have an idea of who the parent is, Winston said that the school is not in a position to punish the parent.
“In terms of anything further than making contact, I don’t really think there’s anything we can do,” Winston said. “The parent isn’t a student at Paly. But we’re going to have to look at the whole context of the situation and decide what the purpose of any action we take is.”
He declined to comment on the specifics of what additional course of action the administration is planning and whether all the streakers were caught.
Winston said that the administration has not been encouraging the police to arrest streakers.
“We’re not in the business of ruining people’s lives,” Winston said. “We want to deal with it quickly, we want to get students back in school, but we don’t support streaking because it’s disruptive to the learning environment.”
The punishment for streakers who are caught remains the same: three days of suspension from school, which then has to be reported to the student’s college. Winston said that offenders who are over the age of 18 can be formally charged for the misdemeanor, and there is a small chance that they will also be registered as a sex offender.
“If we were to call the police and that person [a streaker] gets arrested, then they go to court and either be tried or the case can be thrown out,” Winston said. “If they get charged, and it goes through a court that upholds the charge, then indecent exposure people have to register as sex offenders. It’s highly unlikely that someone caught streaking would have to be registered as a sex offender in the end, but it is a remote possibility.”
He added that no Paly student has been registered as a sex offender in the past for streaking.
Streaking is an unofficial senior tradition that typically occurs during the second-to-last week of school, not counting finals week. Despite its long-standing recurrence in the Paly community, the administration has been working to deter the practice, according to Winston.
“Streaking is indecent exposure if even one person is offended,” Winston said. “I’ve already heard from numerous parents, teachers and students who are offended.”
Moreover, Winston is concerned about the health and safety risks of streaking.
“If someone trips and falls while they’re running on campus naked, there is a possibility they could get seriously hurt,” he said. “It’s about health and safety. The Santa Clara County Office of Health could come out and fine the school for having people here run around naked.”
Winston said he is not aware of any injuries resulting from streaking this year.
In terms of the communication and discipline, Winston said he is proud of the administration’s response to streakers.
“I believe that you have to treat people with dignity and respect, regardless of what situation you’re in,” Winston said. “I’ve been upfront and honest with students and parents that if someone is caught, the goal is to deal with it as professionally and quickly as possible.”