Threatened with having to take the year off due to the teachers labour dispute, the Stayner Collegiate Institute Cybergnomes robotics team will instead compete this year as a special committee of Clearview Township Council.

That decision was made unanimously at last week’s Council meeting, after a motion was made by Councillor Robert Walker and seconded by Councillor Doug Measures.

The team, which has competed in robotics competitions in Boston the past few years and has been a successful incubator of technical talent at the high school, had been notified the week before that it would not be operating in 2013, as the teachers who run the program are refraining from any extracurricular activities for the duration of the current labour dispute.

With several students counting on experience with the team for university and scholarship applications, Walker brought his motion to Council.

After a brief discussion about insurance implications, the motion was passed unanimously. The team will have to operate like other committees of Council, by incorporating proper resolutions and bylaws at its meetings and publishing minutes. The team will now be supervised by parent volunteers.