Dan Milligan, former Cape Girardeau Central High School principal, said Friday that his decision to leave school a week before commencement was based on a series of meetings starting six weeks earlier requesting special treatment for one senior.

Following commencement Friday night, Clark said his actions have been portrayed "out of context" by Milligan. The superintendent said he will not comment on this issue in the future.

"I have never done anything unethical," he said.

School board member Steve Wright said Friday, "I've made a mistake. I acted hastily. I have no problem with the decision, but I think we jumped the gun. If I had it to do over again I would have asked more questions and gotten more information first."

On June 3, Milligan left Central High in protest of a decision to allow seniors who had not completed graduation requirements participate in commencement. Milligan has not returned.

"This wasn't something that started last week," Milligan said Friday. "The fact is that this had gone on for five or six weeks. Dr. (Neyland) Clark came to me five or six weeks ago and his remark to me was to go back over to the high school and work some magic for this kid. I wasn't really sure what that meant."

Milligan said he pulled the student's transcript and saw the deficiency was a geometry course. "I took it to Mr. (James) Englehart and said there wasn't any magic I could work. He said he didn't see any magic either. The boy just needed to work real hard in the correspondence course."

Clark said, "Saying to work your magic is something I say to a lot of people. Ask my staff. It doesn't imply anything criminal or illegal.

"If he is implying that I was asking for anything special for this student, that's not true," Clark said. "We are doing wonderful things for kids all the time. In terms of the times I met with Dan (Milligan), I never asked him to do anything immoral or unethical. I was asking that this student be afforded the same type of assistance as afforded to other students."

Milligan said nothing happened for a couple of weeks.

Then Clark talked with Milligan, a counselor and a geometry teacher. "At that time he (Clark) wanted the boy to take the test from last year's geometry course and, if he passed, go ahead and give him credit," Milligan said. "He had received an F last year. I said I didn't think that was fair to the other students who had received an F last year."

Clark said in the past students have been allowed "to test out of" courses, prompting his suggestion that the student be allowed to take the geometry test.

The superintendent said suggestions were developed as he looked for options to help the student, who was short a half credit to graduate.

"I was asking what the options are," Clark said. "No way was anything implied or requested that was out of the ordinary or unethical."

Instead, Milligan said, arrangements were made for the student to get out of a study hall class and monitor a geometry class in hopes it would help him with the correspondence course. "He went two times and didn't go back," the former principal said.

Clark agreed that tutoring was set up for the student. "But it was marginal how much an assistance it was."

At that time, Milligan said, the possibility of changing the graduation ceremony procedure came up to give this student an opportunity to participate with his classmates.

On May 31, Milligan was called to a meeting in Englehart's office. Clark and school board president Ed Thompson were also present. "They talked some more about it (changing the graduation ceremony procedure). Mr. Englehart and I thought it was not a good thing to do, to change the procedure," Milligan said.

"The next morning I asked Ed Thompson where we were. I had to finalize the line of march and prepare for graduation practice. He said it was a dead issue. Then suddenly Friday morning I'm told these kids are to march. That's when I got upset. Those are the facts I based my decision on."

On June 3, following graduation practice, Clark told Milligan that all seniors one credit or less short of graduation who could prove they were pursuing a diploma would be allowed to participate in the ceremony.

Milligan believes the student and his parents had adequate warning that the boy was in danger of not graduating. "I don't feel the school or the counseling department was ever negligent of informing what was needed for graduation," he said.

"On May 12, 1993, we have a school record of a conference with the student involved. He was shown and told exactly what he would need to graduate," Milligan said. "On Sept. 13, 1993, a letter was sent to his parents explaining to them what had to be done in order for graduation to occur.

"At the beginning of the second semester, the student dropped geometry at school and said he was taking it by correspondence," Milligan said.

"On March 31 another letter was sent to parents explaining what was needed for graduation to occur. There was never any doubt that the parents and the student knew what was expected."

Milligan said up until a few weeks ago, the student could have participated, if he had completed the correspondence course and passed the final exam. That didn't occur in time, he said.

"I didn't think that was fair to all the other students. This is the information I had and why I choose to make the decision I did," Milligan said. "Hopefully, this will make the people realize you can't make rash decisions."

Englehart said Friday that Milligan's account of their two meetings concerning the issue was "fairly accurate," but he added, "basically there were a lot of things I was not involved with."

Englehart said he was presented with a copy of the student's transcript and again was involved during a meeting in his office with Milligan, Thompson and Clark.

"This parent never came to me," Englehart said. "All the conversation with the parents and the school district were through Dr. Clark until the meeting with the counselors."

Englehart said it is routine for the school district to review student transcripts at the end of the junior year and inform students about any required courses needed for graduation. The routine also includes a follow-up letter in September.

Board president Ed Thompson explained the meeting he attended with Clark, Milligan and Englehart: "Clark said he wished there was something we could do to help this kid out. About 10 minutes into this meeting, he stood up and said, `I'm too close to this. I don't need to be involved. I'm going to let you guys take it over.' He left the meeting.

"As far as I know he maintained that stature through the whole thing," Thompson said.

Wright said when he was asked about the proposed change initially, he was told six or eight students were within one unit of graduating. He was asked his philosophy of allowing these students to participate in the ceremony.

Wright responded that he felt the students should be allowed to participate. "Then I was told who one individual was and how it might look," Wright said. He responded that if one participated they all should be allowed to participate.

"I still believe in the procedure," Wright said. "I wish Dan Milligan would have called the board instead of walking out."

Wright would like to see a committee of teachers, administrators and board members formed to develop a policy for commencement and for tracking students after the ceremony.