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Friday, October 19, 2007
Graduation Ceremonies: What Are They For Anyway?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton County Board of Education members may once again reverse a policy allowing so-called certificate students to participate in high school graduation ceremonies.
Previously, Fulton officials stopped letting those students — who could not pass all parts of the state-mandated graduation tests — walk on Graduation Day.
But, after a crush of complaints from outraged parents who said their children earned the right by passing all required classes, the board rejected the change. Students receiving a High School Certificate — but not a diploma — could go to commencement after all.
Of course, that upset other parents and students who felt including those classmates diminished the ceremony’s meaning. “It’s unfair to let people be recognized for something they have yet to do,” Chantai Meadows, a recent graduate, wrote in the AJC last spring.
Now it seems Fulton County Schools officials agree. In yet another revision of the policy currently being considered, only students receiving a bona fide high school diploma would be allowed to join in.
“We see no reason to allow students to participate in graduation exercises if they have not indeed graduated,” Fulton staff members told the board earlier this week.
But here’s the catch: Because the State Board of Education sometimes waives graduation test requirements for otherwise good students who repeatedly, but narrowly, flunk the exams, those teenagers also will be allowed to don a cap and gown.
So what’s fairer: Allowing only students who meet the diploma requirements to march with their class or allowing any student who completes high school — in any way — participate?
