After several code of conduct violations at the state competition, the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) organization has placed the Carlmont DECA chapter on official probation, jeopardizing the school’s ability to compete in future events.
The 2026 State Career Development Conference (SCDC), held in Anaheim, California, hosted more than 150 Carlmont students over a 4-day period from Feb. 26 to March 1. Though many participants remained mindful of the DECA Code of Conduct, the competition opportunities of every member of the Carlmont DECA club are now at risk.
In a recent email to Carlmont DECA students and parents, Carlmont chapter advisor John Rowe detailed several categories of misconduct during the trip, including widespread curfew violations and the misuse of social media to organize unauthorized hotel room gatherings. The report also noted instances of significant room disarray and unprofessional conduct toward hotel staff and other school chapters.
Rowe declined to comment further when asked for an interview.
These actions disrupted the competition environment and forced hotel employees to handle unnecessary cleaning and repairs.
“It’s important for students to show respect to the hotels and cities that host these competitions, because they put effort into cleaning up after us and making sure we have a good stay,” said Rachel Fan, a Carlmont sophomore and DECA member. “They shouldn’t have to feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, that school is coming to our city. It’s so annoying.'”
This schoolwide accountability is reflected in the probation outlined in the email, which mandates a zero-tolerance policy for the chapter’s participation in upcoming events, including the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). Rowe’s message noted that any further offenses will result in a complete suspension of the Carlmont DECA chapter for the 2026-27 school year.
For a program as large and successful as DECA, this disciplinary action serves as a reminder that academic or competitive excellence does not grant immunity from schoolwide standards.
For students who participated in the competition mindfully, it is difficult to accept collective responsibility for the actions of a few, especially given their individually positive efforts.
“It’s really frustrating when the actions of a few people affect the entire group,” Fan said. “If we didn’t do something, then we shouldn’t be punished for it, but since it’s a team effort, the whole group has to take the blame.”
Carlmont Principal Gay Buckland-Murray also acknowledged that while the consequences impact the entire chapter, they are necessary to uphold school standards.
“I am grateful for students who met behavioral expectations on those trips. I would also tell them that I’m trying to maintain opportunities for them, but I hope that they can understand why I hesitate and want to put in stricter guidelines,” Buckland-Murray said. “I’m doing it so that the opportunities can continue to be there in the future.”
Beyond DECA
The incident’s consequences extend past new implications for DECA members. The sweeping impact of the incidents during the Anaheim trip has weakened overall trust among students, staff, and parents regarding school trips. As a result, Carlmont programs that offer school-sponsored trips, such as the choir program, have been forced to implement additional precautions.
“Our rules have become a lot stricter for our upcoming field trip because of DECA. We had a behavior form listing the rules we needed to follow, and we later had to sign another one because our teacher wants to reassure parents that we run a ‘tight ship’ that’s strict, safe, and responsible,” said Amelia Schoenstein, a Carlmont freshman attending the upcoming choir trip.
Despite the stricter oversight, many students remain grateful for the opportunity to participate in off-campus events.
“I love that I get to go on field trips. That’s one of my favorite things about being in any program, because you can just go somewhere with all your friends,” Schoenstein said. “It is really fun.”
While students like Schoenstein value the social and educational benefits of travel, the logistical success of these trips depends on the oversight of the adults in direct authority. Administrative Vice Principal Grant Steunenberg noted that the safety of over 100 students at a time relies on strict command and clear communication.
“It comes down to organization by the adults who are in charge,” Steunenberg said. “It’s making sure that the expectations for the students are clearly established prior to the field trip, and then during the trip, making sure that all of the preparation and organization are followed.”
Buckland-Murray echoed the importance of supervisors’ roles and noted another complication with student-staff cooperation on school trips.
“The other thing that makes that difficult is that the people who are chaperoning often don’t know the students. A lot of times, when you handle discipline issues or try to explain your expectations, it will land better if it comes from a teacher with whom they already have a relationship,” Buckland-Murray said.
The path forward
While the burden of behavior management often falls on adult coordinators, the responsibility for upholding school values is shared by the entire Carlmont community. Even as students like Fan struggle with the frustration of collective accountability, student leaders are already working to rebuild the program’s culture inside and out.
Devin Suto, a junior and Carlmont DECA’s vice president of competition, emphasized that the chapter’s leadership is focused on maintaining the positive behavior needed to match Carlmont’s high level of DECA achievement.
“We are all working to implement policies and clearer expectations to ensure all DECA members positively represent the school. This year has been our most successful competitively, and we want to make sure that our conduct and professionalism reflect that same level of excellence,” Suto said.
Moreover, Suto noted that participants’ daily attitudes are just as crucial as leadership action. He highlights the responsibilities each DECA member assumes simply by participating in competitions like the SCDC.
“Students can show respect for the club by acting professionally at meetings and conferences, supporting their teammates, and following the expectations set by leadership and our advisor,” Suto said. “It is a privilege to travel and compete, and members should not take that for granted.”
Student leaders like Suto are focused on internal improvements, but the Carlmont administration is looking at the broader impact of these events on the school’s culture. The main challenge is to address the severity of the SCDC incident without erasing years of the program’s success.
“When something bad happens, it’s easy to focus on that and get frustrated with that group. But overall, the other 98% of the students are fantastic,” Steunenberg said. “And even the ones who made a mistake are not bad students or bad people; they just made a bad decision in that moment.”
The administration plans to support the DECA chapter by seeing past the immediate crisis. Rather than viewing the DECA program through a single event, Steunenberg and Buckland-Murray encourage the community to focus on how it recovers rather than how it fell short.
“People judge us by what we do out in public — always remember that,” Buckland-Murray said. “It only takes one snapshot for something to go viral. If it’s something really good, that’s great, but if it’s something really bad, that’s unfortunate. We’re all under a microscope.”
