MISSION VIEJO : Lawyers to Study School Logo Ban

Whether Mission Viejo High School can prevent students from wearing an unauthorized school logo will be researched by Saddleback Valley Unified School District lawyers.

A parents group has questioned a campus ban on caps and T-shirts decorated with the school’s former school mascot--a grim-faced devil--and it has led to the resignation of one coach. Parents said students have been threatened with suspension for wearing the logo, though school officials dispute that.

After a two-hour closed meeting with district administrators Wednesday afternoon, the group said they weren’t happy with the district’s response.

“I wasn’t real impressed with their willingness to work things out,” said Arleen Brown, a member of the Committee for Concerned Parents. “It sounded like the same runaround we heard from the (Mission Viejo High) school.”

According to Brown, district officials said enforcement of the ban is in the hands of school administrators. However, they added that district lawyers would look into possible freedom of expression issues surrounding the logo ban.

“We told them we were not aware of any such (suspension) policy, but we will investigate it,” said Supt. Peter Hartman.

The controversy stems from a 1986 ban imposed by Principal Robert Metz on a grim-faced devil image that had been the school’s unofficial mascot for several years.

Although the school nickname has been the Diablos--Spanish for devils--since Mission Viejo High opened in 1966, the devil did not begin appearing on yearbooks and school walls until the early 1970s.

Metz made the final decision to get rid of the mascot, saying he had received many complaints from parents over the years who were offended by having a devil as a mascot.

The Diablos nickname survived, however. Metz said the cost of replacing team uniforms didn’t justify a name change. Students were given a list of replacement mascots, a list that didn’t include a devil figure, and they chose a gruff bulldog. School and booster officials acknowledge that the bulldog has never been popular.

Last summer, head football coach Mike Rush allowed a sport clothes vendor to sell Diablos caps adorned with a small devil patch.

Administrators have asked students wearing the caps to leave them at home or cover the symbol.

Metz said nobody has been suspended, although some students say they’ve been threatened with suspension for wearing the cap.

Rush resigned as coach last month, saying he was told to sign a document requiring him to enforce the “no-devil logo” policy.