Saratoga News

Streaking incident leads to an exchange of letters

By Michelle Alaimo

A streaking incident that took place on the Saratoga High School campus April 21 continued to have repercussions in the community a week after graduation ceremonies were held and the "punishment" was administered.

The incident that sparked the latest controversy occurred at 2 p.m. on June 12, just four hours prior to the school's official graduation ceremony, at an alternate graduation ceremony held at the home of an SHS parent for those who had participated in the streaking incident and had been banned from walking across the stage and accepting their diplomas in the school's ceremony.

What ignited the controversy was the participation in the alternate ceremony of Ron Adolphson, president of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District board. San Jose TV station KNTV-11 got word of Adolphson's participation and aired the story that night.

Teachers and some administrators at SHS took issue with Adolphson's participation, claiming in a letter dated June 13--and sent to the school board--that the board president's actions "undermined the position of the school staff and the school administration."

Adolphson read the letter and responded with one of his own, in which he claimed that the teachers' letter "lacked substance and truth."

By the time the school board met June 17, the teachers had sent a new letter apologizing for the first letter. The teachers, most of whom had heard about the TV broadcast but had not actually seen it, had obtained a copy of the footage of the story after they sent the first letter.

In the second letter, they said, " ... while Mr. Adolphson's presence there is described as 'the coup of the day' and he is clearly portrayed as the school board president presenting diplomas to the streakers, at no time did he make the comment we were led to believe he made in that particular public forum. For acting on hearsay and misinformation, we offer Mr. Adolphson and the board a sincere apology."

Earlier, when the punishment for the streakers was being debated, Adolphson had indicated that he believed the punishment was too harsh. Teachers had been led to believe that Adolphson made that statement in front of the TV cameras at the time of the alternate ceremony, which, in fact, he did not.

Board members were faxed a copy of Adolphson's letter, and they discussed the issue via telephone. The next day, board member Bob Allen told the Saratoga News, "It was not a board situation. He went over as a gesture to these people."

District Superintendent Tod Likins and SHS principal Kevin Skelly said that Adolphson had obtained their approval before he accepted the invitation to officiate at the alternative ceremony, something that had not been communicated to the teachers until after their first letter went out to school board members.

In an interview with the Saratoga News last week, Skelly said, "This has been a really painful issue for the community. ... It's time to move on."

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