Old, dead Christmas trees tied to lamp posts and hung high on the fence surrounding the baseball field greeted custodians, teachers, and administrators who arrived early to campus on January 28.
More than a dozen other trees were hung or otherwise deposited throughout campus.
2 trees were found on top of school buildings, 1 on B wing and the other on the 2nd level of the roof of the Big Gym across from the mural. When pulled off, pieces of the roof came with them.
2 Christmas trees were also hung in a tree in the quad, and a 3rd was placed in the umbrella hole of a picnic table.
Another tree was removed from the quad between C Hall and D Hall where it had been hung in a pine tree. More were taken from A Hall and B Hall. 4 trees were placed in front of the 2 halls in garbage cans, as if guarding the entrances. More trees were glued to the sidewalk.
2 Christmas trees were found hanging from the rafters in front of the library, and a 3rd was duct-taped to an adjacent pole.
According to custodian Ben Wadsworth, it took him and 3 other people, including gardener Oscar Verduzco, an hour and a half to remove all of the trees littered around campus. The trees hanging from the light posts and fence were removed January 29 by members of the maintenance crew that serves Acalanes, Campolindo, and Miramonte. They used a scissor lift to take down the trees hanging from the light posts and the baseball field fence.
Although Wadsworth wasn’t bothered by the clean up, he remarked that removing the trees took time away from productive activities he could have otherwise done. “It didn’t matter to me, but it does take time away from us,” he said.
Vice Principal Sharon Bartlett said the administration does not know who put the Christmas trees on campus and why they did so; however, she does believe that their placement throughout the school was a prank of some sort.
“I am comfortable with the prank. Whether or not it had to do with seniors, I am not sure,” she said.
Wadsworth said that “it’s pretty early for a senior prank.”
Bartlett said she would be more inclined to think the prank was entertaining if not for the cost of removing the trees. “I think that the intent was supposed to be funny, and if it wasn’t such an expensive project, I would appreciate it more,” she said.
Removing the trees from the back parking lot racked up a bill of $1,000, including the combined price of manpower and renting the scissor lift. The lift was already in the back parking lot, which saved a little, but it still cost approximately $600 to continue using and servicing it. The maintenance crew will also have to be paid for their work.
“I see the humor, but I also see the bill,” explained Bartlett.
