Based on comments and suggestions from parents, attendees and graduation committee members, next June’s San Benito High School commencement ceremony may move to an 8:30 a.m. start, an hour-and-a-half earlier than it has begun in recent years.
The SBHS Board of Trustee members gathered Sept 14 to discuss making changes to the graduation ceremony for the 2016-17 school year.
Principal Adrian Ramirez presented the board with a proposed revision to the graduation ceremony that he and Graduation Coordinator, Laurie Chavez, put together based on input from various constituencies.
“In the last couple months we have been going back and forth about what we think is the best route to go in terms of this school year and in the future,” said Ramirez. “Ms. Chavez holds debriefings with the Grad Committee after the graduation ceremony where they debrief the pros and cons, suggestions, you know, the things that went well.”
While the Graduation Committee had positive notes about this past June’s ceremony, including the stage, sound, graduates’ behavior, Sober Grad night and the pre-ceremony held for graduating seniors, its membes also pointed out some areas for improvement. They included the ongoing issue of heat and not enough shade, insufficient water supplies and handicap seating, keeping the award recognition out of the ceremony to make the event shorter, and moving the start time to earlier in the morning.
“I can tell you, any time I go to the store or any time I see a parent they say ‘you have to change the time of graduation’,” said Ramirez.
To address the ongoing issues, Ramirez said he and Chavez looked into the possibility of moving the ceremony to the evening or going with the earlier start time. Both options brought their own set of issues, but in the end they decided to change the start time to earlier in the morning, moving it up from 10 a.m..
“When we sat down and looked at the pros and cons of all the options, Ms. Chavez and I both agreed that our recommendation, and what we would like to see, is to shift it to an early start time.”
Ramirez said the ceremony would have to start no later than 8:30 a.m. “or it would defeat the purpose of trying to avoid the heat.”
Officials also want to ensure that the ceremony does not last more than two hours. “We would have to trim down some of the awards, some of the recognitions that are given, for example Senior Award Night, Perfect Attendance Ceremony,” he said, noting that many awards are already presented at Senior Parent Night, which is held a few days prior to graduation.
The board agreed with the suggested change and Ramirez said he will share the recommendations with the Graduation Committee at its next meeting.