CENTRAL'S GRADUATION POLICY GOES TO SCHOOL BOARD MONDAY

A policy concerning commencement at Cape Girardeau Central High has been nearly a year in coming. The Board of Education is set to vote on it Monday.

The proposal would require students to have completed all graduation requirements by the end of the school year to participate in the commencement ceremony.

Central High Principal Dan Tallent said while the policy has been traveling along official channels toward adoption, students and staff have proceeded in accordance with the proposal.

Commencement will be held May 26 at 8 p.m.

The policy got first-round approval at the April Board of Education meeting and is set for a second reading at Monday's meeting. If approved, it will be adopted as an official policy. Because of the resignation of three board members and the April election, five of the seven board members didn't vote on the first reading.

The school board has two readings for new policies. Revisions or updates of existing policies can be approved with one reading.

"We have approached this year's graduation using the proposed requirements," Tallent said.

One of Tallent's first projects when he became principal last fall was to form a committee to draft a graduation policy.

Last year, a last-minute change in Central High's commencement procedure launched a summerlong controversy.

Superintendent Neyland Clark, with board approval, allowed students who didn't complete all their graduation requirements to participate in commencement.

The decision was made a week before the ceremony to change a long-standing practice students complete requirements before taking part in the ceremony.

Some students, parents and community members didn't like the change. Some others didn't like the timing.

Then-high school principal Dan Milligan was so angered by the superintendent's decision, he left his office a week before the end of school. He was scheduled to retire at the end of the school year.

Tallent met with committees of students, staff members and parents to draft the proposal. In addition to establishing the commencement procedure, it also outlines steps the guidance staff will take to notify parents if students are failing classes. The proposal also calls for recognition at commencement of students who have received honors during the school year.

Tallent said the graduation policy has been developed from those recommendations.

One criticism during the controversy was that students and parents didn't know when students were failing classes or might not graduate.

Tallent said students and parents of students in danger of not meeting all graduation requirements have been notified.

"There is no one who does not know the status if their son or daughter is in jeopardy of not graduating," Tallent said.