[EricH]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Why would more pressure make reinstating the team less likely? Why would they be more likely to fold the team when in the public eye than when not? I don't follow at all.

Policy, Chris, policy. To a bureaucrat (even in a school bureaucracy), policy is key. Not following policy is a really bad idea. Because their policy is out in the open, to reinstate the team, they now need a staff person (because administrative dispatches take precedence over student handbooks). No staff person has been willing to take on the robotics group up till now. (Though... Have the janitors been asked, or do they count?)

That means that they need to "hire" someone to be the staff person (big hassle), or they need to make an exception (bigger hassle). Letting the team go independent (and assisting the process by a diligent and fair check of what is team and what is school) allows them to not get nearly as big of a hassle, and they save face (i.e. look halfway decent in the public eye).

Best case scenario: a teacher or other staff person steps up and volunteers. Team goes on with life. I doubt that will happen, though.