Chambersburg grads, guests may meet on field

May 05, 2007|By DON AINES

CHAMBERSBURG, PA.-There have been some changes to graduation ceremony guidelines for Chambersburg Area Senior High School, but the tradition of parents and friends mingling with the graduates on the football field afterward still will be allowed in some form.

At the April 11 Chambersburg School Board meeting, Superintendent Joseph Padasak said he wanted less of a "circus atmosphere" for the June 8 graduation, and announced a set of guidelines banning cigar smoking, tossing beach balls, shooting Silly String, streaking and other distracting behavior by students.

The guidelines also stated that family and friends would be "encouraged" to meet graduates at the Trojan Stadium entrances or adjacent parking lots rather than mingling on the field.

"For the most part, people were not upset with anything proposed" except for not being able to go onto the field, board member Stanley Helman said Friday. "Part of the reason for that was because of the limited access to the field."

There is only one end zone entrance onto the field, Helman said of Trojan Stadium, which underwent a $6 million renovation last year. This will be the first commencement held in the stadium since it was rebuilt.

Helman said he, other board members and the administration did get "some feedback" from parents about plans to keep them off the field.

"The exact procedures for graduation have not been figured out yet," said Sylvia Rockwood, the district's director of Information Services. "We're working toward a solution that will work out for everyone."

Rockwood also said the limited access to the field is a problem, and the ultimate solution could involve limiting the number of friends or relatives each graduate can have on the field.

Board members and the administration discussed modifying the guidelines, which were not voted on, prior to the April 25 board meeting, Helman said.

Padasak said in April that the administration is planning to have a higher police presence at graduation, and violations of the guidelines could result in students being removed from the ceremony.

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