Local Newspaper Sides With District in MHS Cheerleader Controversy

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune published an editorial Monday that sides with the Monrovia Unified School District in its decision to kick nearly a dozen Monrovia High School cheerleaders off the squad for a senior prank.

First reported in Patch back in August, the senior prank--where cheerleaders threw dorm room mattresses over a third-floor railing at a UC Santa Barbara cheer camp--resulted in the dismissal of 11 cheerleaders from the team. The girls also had their senior privileges taken away.

Parents of the cheerleaders decried the decision as too harsh, but the district did not budge and the punishment stuck. The Tribune said Monday that the prank was dangerous and that the district made the right call.

"Good for them for not buckling under community pressure quibbling about just what the penalty should be," the paper wrote.