Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

story

Students to Demand Apology After Being Denied Diplomas Over Graduation Cheers

Associated Press
Published | Updated

GALESBURG, Ill. – Two students who were initially denied diplomas due to loud cheers during their high school graduation ceremony haven't gotten an apology — nor have they asked for one.

Nadia Trent and Amanda Kelley said last week they would demand apologies from administrators, but neither appeared Monday at the first school board meeting since the dispute was resolved.

The students are two of five Galesburg High School graduates who were denied diplomas after boisterous friends and family cheered for them during a May 27 commencement ceremony. The students were eventually awarded their diplomas Wednesday.

If Trent and Kelley had appeared at the meeting and asked for an apology, Superintendent Gene Denisar said the board would have referred them to a news release explaining the decision to award the diplomas. The statement, which was issued last week, offered no apologies.

Trent said she was unable to attend the meeting Monday evening because of a "family emergency." She declined to elaborate, but said she plans to pursue an apology either in writing or at the next board meeting on July 9.

"I think that they owe us that much," Trent said.

Pam Kelley, Amanda Kelley's mother, did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

School officials cracked down on noise following complaints from a 2005 commencement in which cheering and air horns drowned out most of the ceremony.

About a month before this year's graduation, students and parents signed a contract saying they would not disrupt the ceremony. If the contract was violated, students were warned they could be denied their diplomas and barred from an after-graduation party, but still graduate and receive transcripts.

Denisar told the board that the central Illinois school district has received about 1,500 letters and e-mails about the decorum flap, representing "a broad-brush of pros and cons." He said the policy will be reviewed before next year's graduation and public input will be sought.