Graduation Change Discussed at SCSD#1

Moving high school graduation from Sunday to another day was the main topic of conversation at the Tuesday night meeting of Sheridan County School District #1 Meeting held in Ranchester. Colby Lynch, Tongue River High School Principal and Al Sparkman, Big Horn High School Principal, approached the board with the idea of moving high school graduation from Sunday to a weekday evening. “We don’t have any other school events on Sunday,” Lynch said. “Why graduation?”

Lynch said that they would like every teacher to attend graduation, and it is not just high school graduation, but it is a marker of their school years from kindergarten all the way through senior.

Pete Kilbride, superintendent, said that for many years the schools in the district have held graduation on Memorial Day Weekend Sunday.

Lynch suggested holding graduation on Thursday or Friday night, and rotating between Tongue River and Big Horn school. He felt that education was important, and he added this:

“Families will come to graduation no matter what the day,” Lynch said. “This was is a way for teachers to attend as well.”

“We should have graduation as close to the last day of school as possible,” Lynch added.

Trustee Eric Lofgren said “We can talk to some parents to get their input.”

“It is a community graduation,” Sparkman said. “Students don’t work as long to receive a PHD as they do to graduate from a K-12 school.”

Superintendent Pete Kilbride added, “I would be curious to see how the parents feel about it and we will take it up in a work session.”

The board approved salaries and the 2021-2022 handbook, the crisis plan for the upcoming year, a bid for a security up grade. Also discussed was the planned work on High Street in Big Horn.