The Palo Alto High School junior and sophomore classes will look to recover in the next few days of Spirit Week after suffering point deductions from the Associated Student Body for an incident that occurred during fourth period Tuesday on the Quad.
According to multiple sources, tensions flared between classes on the second day of Spirit Week as a pair of juniors caused damage to sophomore decorations and were involved in a physical altercation with two sophomores.
According to a statement released tonight on the Palo Alto High School Associated Student Body Facebook page, 50 points were deducted from the junior class for “destruction of sophomore property on the Quad.” In addition, 15 points were deducted from the sophomore class for “a derogatory cheer that was directed at one individual.”
Above all else, ASB’s purpose is not to condone “acts of bullying,” but to support a cooperative environment for everyone at Paly during Spirit Week, from the Paly ASB Facebook post.
“ASB would like reiterate that we do not condone bullying and any acts of bullying in relation to spirit week will result in a deduction of points,” the ASB Facebook post reads. “We hope that, in the future, all classes will abstain from negative commentary and keep Spirit Week a fun, safe week for everyone.”
Although there is nothing explicitly in the rules referring to behavior outside the rallies, the judges and Hall have the final decisions on points, according to Student Activities Director Matt Hall.
“For example, the silly string incident [Monday] took place outside of the rallies, but the juniors were deducted,” Hall said, referring to when a few juniors ran through the Quad spraying silly string on sophomores. Details about the incident can be found here.
Although the exact proceedings of Tuesday’s physical altercation are disputed, Paly administration has also administered consequences, but did not specify what disciplinary actions have been or will be taken, according to Craig Tuana, dean of students.
“Everything we [the administration] do, we try to make an appropriate consequence,” Tuana said.
The Paly Voice will report more information as soon as it is available.