High school graduates would only be permitted to participate in the commencement ceremonies of the school they are graduating from under a policy being considered by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District.
The KPBSD school board on Monday first considered the policy, which must again be reviewed and passed in committee before advancing to the full board for a vote up or down. The school district doesn’t currently have a policy regarding whether students must participate in the graduation ceremony of the school from which they are graduating.
“Students desiring to graduate from a specific public school must be enrolled full-time with that school at the beginning of the second semester of the year they wish to graduate,” the proposed policy says.
KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland told committee members Monday that it is important to the district that students participate in the graduation ceremony of the school from which they are graduating.
“There was a little confusion last year on a person being able to attend a different school (graduation),” he said.
Board members expressed support for modifying the proposed policy such that it accounts for students who graduate early and for students enrolled in an atypical high school, such as through the district’s middle college program. KPBSD Assistant Superintendent Kari Dendurent said the district already allows students who graduate early to participate in graduation ceremonies.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
