BOARD GIVES NEW POLICY INITIAL OK

Nearly a year after rancorous debate over Cape Girardeau Central High School's commencement, the district's school board gave first-round approval to a graduation policy.

The policy requires students to complete all graduation requirements by the end of the school year to participate in the commencement ceremony.

Early graduates may return and participate in the ceremony.

Students who complete requirements after the ceremony may participate in the next scheduled ceremony or may pick up their diplomas at the administration office.

The board approved a first reading of the new policy Monday.

The graduation policy has been in the works since the beginning of the school year. The policy could be adopted at the board's May 10 meeting. Commencement is May 26.

Last May, Superintendent Neyland Clark, with board approval, decided a week before commencement that students close to completing graduation requirement would be allowed to participate in the ceremony. That action changed long-standing but unwritten district procedures.

Then-principal Dan Milligan was so angered by the decision that he packed his office and walked out a week before his planned retirement at the end of the school year.

The proposed policy outlines steps counselors must take prior to graduation to keep parents well-informed of their children's progress.

It also establishes requirements for the issuance of diplomas and the naming of valedictorian, salutatorian and other students receiving honors.