Warning, this is not going to be a popular opinion.
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Originally Posted by Koko Ed
Considering all the "unwanted attention" this story is generating I would not be surprised if the school district administration does a 180 next week with a heavy dose of spin. School districts are run by politicians and the one thing they fear more than anything else is negative press.
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Which is sad. The school is following its written policy and catching flak for it. The school says they can't be a club without a staff member being involved. They have also decided to provide an alternative to it in the form of this MESA program.
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Originally Posted by The Article
Matthews said that the school has chosen to have classes that teach smaller-scale robotics. These classes would give opportunity to have more kids involved, he said, and to be a classroom activity, presented as an academic course.
We asked why Franklin High couldn’t host both a robotics club and the Portland State University-based outreach program “Oregon MESA”.
“We can’t do both,” Matthews responded, “because we don’t have a teacher who can commit the time required — to be involved in the [FRC] competitions and the club.”
Matthews added that the school favors offering the MESA coursework. “We have a teacher, Ms. Merritt Dalton, who is certified in that discipline. Assisting her with the course is the former robotic club advisor, Dennis Swofford.”
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The policy in question is:
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Matthews referred to Portland Public Schools Administrative Directive “4.40.050-AD, Student Clubs”, that defines school clubs as “… recognized student groups or organizations that may be curricular or non-curricular.” Matthews then quoted from Section I, Subpart 5, “Supervision of student clubs” which states: “… All clubs with the exception of religious, political, and sports clubs must have a staff supervisor.”
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They do not classify FRC teams as a sports club which is their choice and the team cannot be a club at the school. As for the equipment and the money, is it school equipment? Was the money donated to the school?
Yes, this is a bad situation but frankly the school is completely within its rights here.
Want a TLDR? The team didn't follow the rules, rules they've known about since at least September, and were shut down. When they didn't like that they went to the press hoping to force the school into bending the rules.