The threat of storms Wednesday afternoon and evening has impacted DeSoto High School's graduation. The school is moving the ceremony inside, but the changes aren't sitting well with parents or students.
Several people brought up the issue with the school board Tuesday night. That included Haley Freeney, the class valedictorian. She said she considered not going at all because of the last-minute venue change.
"I've looked forward to this for about two and a half years now, and it's not what I expected it to be, almost to the point that I was considering not going," Freeney said. "I actually sent an email stating that I was not going, but I am here to tell you that I will be attending and I will be giving my speech, because graduation is about us, the students, and I will make sure this speech is about the students."
The graduation will now be at Mansfield ISD’s center for the performing arts. The new venue has limited seating, so each graduate will be given six tickets.
That's not enough, according to some families that have complained.
The graduation ceremony is normally held at Eagle stadium. It wasn't immediately clear if there were limitations to attendance there.
The DHS administration team said it originally secured another indoor venue for contingency, in the event of bad weather. That particular venue was not available and that would have caused the district to move the ceremony to Thursday, which students say would have actually worked better.
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“It's really unfair for us to have to choose which family members get to attend our graduation, and we were told we were going to move it to Thursday as far as weather wise,” a frustrated DHS senior said during the meeting.
"They understand the importance of this special ceremony and that people travel and make significant arrangements to be present for their graduates. We would hate to further inconvenience our families by changing the date," the district said.
Very limited additional seating may be available in an on-site overflow location. That's on a first come, first served basis.
ONLINE: DHS posted more details about the graduation changes on their website.
