By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Upset that Montgomery High School’s June 21 graduation ceremony will be moved indoors from the athletic fields, more than 500 people have signed an online petition in protest.
Parents and students were alerted by an email from Montgomery High School Principal Paul Popadiuk that the graduation ceremony would be moved inside because contractors will have begun work to refurbish the track. The project, which is expected to take about two months, is slated to start June 2.
The track will be resurfaced with a resilient rubberized surface. There are also issues with draining and pooling of water that must be addressed. There will be new pavement at the entrance to the stadium, but it takes about 28 days to “cure,” Popadiuk wrote.
“We made the decision to close down the track due to the length of the project and our need to have it accessible for the fall season/classes. With the project taking two full months (from June 2 to July 31), the movement of graduation to the gymnasium is unavoidable,” Popadiuk wrote.
Moving the ceremony indoors, however, means that students will be issued four tickets to the high school gymnasium and two tickets to a closed-circuit broadcast of the ceremony in another room at the high school.
The online petition states that indoor graduations are “much more cramped, making it more difficult for extended family to come, and do not allow students to face their parents.”
“Limited space in the gym means many of the students’ family members will have to watch a video of the performance from the auditorium, rather than in person,” the petition states.
The petition notes that the school district as a whole often has agendas planned out months or years in advance, but the public was only notified of the change in graduation location about a month before graduation.
“Renovations do not tend to spring out of nowhere and are usually planned well in advance. It shows the administration values the graduation ceremony less than a simple renovation,” the petition states.
The petition seeks to have the administration push back the date for the renovation project. Signers are asked to email the school board, Superintendent of Schools Nancy Gartenberg and Papodiuk.
“The students have been working incredibly hard for the past 12 years and they should be able to get the graduation they deserve,” the petition states.
