Parent urges board to reverse principalrefusal to allow robotics team to attend competition

Lee Perkins, a member of the public, told the Atascadero Unified School District board that parents and a student asked at the prior meeting for the district to reverse a principalrefusal to permit the high school robotics team to attend a Southern California competition because the proposed travel required a 2 a.m. departure.

Perkins said parents had arranged chaperones, driving and hotel costs and that the inability to attend likely devastated the students who had prepared for the event. He asked the board for a response and noted he had searched for district policy on off-campus events but could not find a clear precedent that matched the denial he described.

Perkins urged the board to consider the educational value of competition, citing a commentary he found by a Southern California principal that described robotics meets as “education at its best.” He asked the board to clarify the final authority and decision path: "The school board is the final authority in the district. The principal administrator operates under delegated authority of the superintendent," he said, and requested a response at a future meeting.

Superintendent Tom Butler acknowledged Perkins in his superintendentreport and said, "We'll be in touch," and asked that Perkins share contact information so staff could follow up. The board did not take formal action during the meeting on the robotics matter.

The transcript does not record the principal's written denial or the principal's justification; the commenter asked the board to review the decision and provide a reply.