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Graduating seniors at California High School will no longer have to choose who to invite as their limited guests to their commencement ceremony on campus following an initial advisory that spurred a petition from students protesting the proposed limit.
Principal Demetrius Bell notified seniors and their families on Nov. 16 that officials at the high school in San Ramon and the school district had arranged expanded seating for the school’s graduation ceremony next spring that is set to accommodate more guests and eliminate the need for a cap on guests invited by graduating students.
The move came in the wake of pushback from students on reduced seating and a proposed limit for guests in attendance at the class of 2024’s graduation ceremony on campus, with district officials offering the option to have unlimited guests only if the ceremony was held at a different high school in the district.
Students received an email and survey from Bell earlier in November, during which he noted that construction on the school’s stadium would impact the class of 2024’s graduation ceremony due to a 1,200-seat reduction in available seating during the construction process.
“I know that many of you want to have graduation here at Cal, and with limited seating capacity, this means we will need to make changes for the ceremony if we are to keep it at California High School,” Bell told students earlier in November. “We want you to know we looked at multiple options, including renting an out-of-district facility, or adding temporary bleachers, but the cost is overly prohibitive. ”
Students were presented with three options and asked to choose their preference in a survey open through Nov. 17.
Option 1 consisted of a single ceremony on campus during which students would have been limited to two guests each. Option 2 consisted of holding two separate graduation ceremonies on campus, with students being limited to four guests each, while Option 3 consisted of holding the ceremony at a different high school campus and bumping it up a day from June 6 to June 5.
Graduating seniors at Cal High proceeded to launch a change.org petition on Nov. 14 expressing their frustration with the announcement and the options presented to them.
“The three options currently presented to us are undesirable by the majority of the student body,” students wrote on the petition.
Petition organizers called on the district to either change the planned construction dates in order to accommodate their graduation ceremony or to find ways to accommodate additional seats and guests amid the stadium construction process.
“Help the class of 2024 have the graduation we have always dreamed of because the least we can have is a high school graduation after the pandemic cut our dreams of a 8th grade promotion short,” organizers wrote on the petition.
The petition ultimately garnered 715 signatures and numerous supportive comments, plus a response from school and district officials.
“We have been working diligently with our District team, and with their support, we have made arrangements to provide chairs for ample seating on the grass/turf infield of the football stadium,” Bell said in the message to students and families on Nov. 16.
Bell added that the seating arrangements will also accommodate eighth grade promotion ceremonies and guests from the district’s middle schools.
The Cal High graduation ceremony is now scheduled for June 6 from 6-7 p.m. at the school’s Ernie Berger Stadium, following students’ last day of classes on June 5.
“In keeping with our Cal High tradition, ALL families, friends, staff, and supporters of our graduates are welcome to attend the ceremony on June 6, 2024, without restrictions to the number of allowable guests per graduate,” Bell said.
