The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Commencement move discussed
Bring commencement ceremony home to George Daniel Field, board says
Lorain High School’s graduation ceremony could return to George Daniel Field this year.
Details are not finalized yet, but the Lorain School Board wants to bring home the commencement for the Titans’ Class of 2020. Graduation day is scheduled for May 19.
School board members Mark Ballard, Bill Sturgill, Yvonne Johnson, Courtney Nazario and
Timothy Williams discussed the issue Jan. 13 as part of their first meeting of the year.
“Our desire is to bring it back home,” said Ballard, who is board president.
That means the field which is the athletic home of the Lorain High School Titans, or at the school itself in case of rain, he said.
The district will use a committee with Williams, Interim CEO
Greg Ring, Chief Schools Officer LaKimbre Brown and high school Executive Director Rae Bastock to discuss the issue, Ballard said.
There is no firm date yet for a decision on the commencement location. Ballard said he hopes to have a decision as soon as possible to let Lorain County Community College officials know of the plan.
LCCC is a great partner for Lorain City Schools, Ballard added.
In the last three years, the commencement location has been the subject of some debate.
In January 2019, former CEO David Hardy Jr. announced the ceremony would take place at the Wolstein Center Arena of Cleveland State University.
Although it was in Cleveland, the large venue would have enough room to accommodate everyone that every student wanted to bring, Hardy said previously.
The 2019 announcement prompted mixed reactions and the venue was changed.
In May last year, the Lorain High School Class of 2019 received their diplomas at LCCC’s Ewing Field House.
The school board had no input on those decisions, Williams said, and he argued there was little explanation to the community.
“What I realized, what I’ve learned is, that was a perspective from someone who didn’t graduate from the school district and so it’s sometimes easy for folks who are from outside to make suggestions about traditions that they really haven’t weighed in on and appreciate, so it’s a value thing,” Williams said. “And so there are good reasons why the tradition is what it is and I think before we just radically change that, we have to get buy-in.
“So we feel like our commencement got hijacked, quite frankly, and that’s what our community feels like,” Williams said.
Ballard also challenged the supposed difficulty of logistical problems. Lorain Schools staff know how to set up the needed stage and sound system items at George Daniel Field and Lorain High School, so a lastminute change in plans is not too difficult, he said.
Lorain Academic Distress Commission member Diane Xander served as Lorain High School principal and she said in seven years, she had no problem staging the event at the stadium or the high school.
In 2018, the field was getting a new artificial playing surface donated by the Cleveland Browns, so commencement was moved to Lorain High. With overflow space in the school auditorium, there was space for about 3,000 people.
In June 2017, the commencement was planned at George Daniel Field, but the school administration moved the event indoors due to potential for bad weather.
The change prompted about 30 students to meet at George Daniel Field and protest, arguing the decision to switch venues was made too early. However, it later rained on commencement day.