When Oak Park and River Forest High School administration and the District 200 Board of Education floated the idea of changing next year’s graduation day from Sunday afternoon, May 29, to a Thursday evening, May 26, in order to avoid complications stemming from Memorial Day weekend, they weren’t quite prepared for the tremendous pushback from students and parents.
The tide of opposition was enough to persuade most board members who may have advocated for the date change prior to an Aug. 27 regular board meeting — where the issue was aired — to reverse course.
The idea to change the dates was first discussed at a policy committee meeting and a special board meeting last month. The date change was recommended “out of respect for our families who may make alternative plans over the holiday weekend,” according to a document prepared by school officials.
At the Aug. 27 meeting, however, board and administration members were confronted with a throng of students and parents who argued that a change of dates would inconvenience working parents and student-athletes who will still be in competition on that Thursday.
George Brennan, an OPRF senior and member of the varsity tennis team, said he and his teammates, in addition to members of the track team, would be competing in the state tournament that Thursday. Brennan said the tournament would likely extend through much of the day and the team would likely miss graduation.
“Our class is ready to take on an issue like this,” he said, noting that the night before the August board meeting, he posted a comment to the Class of 2016 Facebook page, which elicited more than 160 comments in about four hours.
“I believe the students in the Class of 2016 should have a voice in this process and should largely resemble the outcome of this decision,” he said.
Brennan’s mother, Linda, said she believes some parents won’t be able to attend a Thursday night ceremony due to work commitments.
“There are a number of professionals who would be prevented from leaving their job to be at a 6:30 p.m. Thursday night graduation,” she said. “That becomes almost an exclusionary policy for parents in the community.”
Pete Monihan, the parent of an OPRF senior, pointed out that the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) recommends against scheduling conflicts.
“I think it’s really important to look at the IHSA calendar and the conflicts that do exist on that Thursday,” he said. “Many senior athletes who have been working hard for 4 years will have a serious choice to make on that Thursday and their parents will have a tough choice to make as well.”
Principal Nate Rouse said that permanently moving the graduation date to Thursday allowed the administration the best opportunity to meet the needs of the entire student body. He also said that the date change would preempt future challenges with weekend commencements falling on Memorial Day, allow more participation from faculty and staff, and mitigate issues of ticket inequity that arose during this year’s graduation ceremony.
Rouse said the last time graduation was held during the week was in 1999. Until that point, weekday commencements had been a staple at the school.
“For most of my teaching career we did it on Thursday,” said board member and retired OPRF teacher Steve Gevinson.
“But I must say that since I’ve been reading letters and listening to comments, I’ve changed my mind. The one aspect I haven’t thought about at all was the athletic aspect,” he said.
“We have to defer to what the parents want and what I’m hearing is they overwhelmingly want Sunday,” said board member Sara Dixon Spivy.
Board President Jeff Weissglass, who said he was always for staying with Sunday, commended Brennan for taking to Facebook to let students know about the proposed date change.
“To me, that’s crowdsourcing information on a tough decision. It’s been very helpful,” he said, adding that the board missed the IHSA recommendation that Monihan pointed out.
The board is expected to announce its decision on a permanent graduation date at a regular meeting on Thursday, Sept. 24.
CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com