Warden board changes back graduation date
State-tournament conflict may mean some seniors can't make ceremony
It was scheduled for Friday. Then it was moved to Sunday. Now the Warden High School graduation is back to Friday, May 28 at 8 p.m.
That means some of the players on its top-ranked baseball team may have to hurry back to Warden from a semi-final game to graduate, and members of the girls' fast-pitch team may not make it at all.
The Warden School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to move the graduation ceremony back to Friday. Board members had learned of the potential conflict during their last meeting earlier this month and quickly voted to move graduation to Sunday.
Warden's boys' baseball team is entering the 1A playoffs with a 16-0-1 record and a number one ranking in the state. The semi-final game of the state tournament is scheduled for Friday, May 28 at 1 p.m. in Yakima, and the state championship game is 10 a.m. the next day.
The girls' fast-pitch softball team finished the regular season with an 11-3 record and a good chance of contending for the state title, Superintendent Larry Blades said. Their tournament, to be held in Yakima, is also that same weekend. The girls could potentially play at 4, 6 or 8 p.m. Friday night, and the team will find out that time on May 23.
Warden High Principal Leonard Lusk told the board that the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which sets the schedules for sports tournaments, put May 29 as the calendar date for the tournaments before the school year began, not explaining that the games would last for two days.
At their last meeting, board members learned of the scheduling conflict and voted to move the graduation date to Sunday. That's when the phone calls began coming in. Board Chair Rob Shuler said he began hearing from parents concerned about relatives flying in for the ceremony who might not be able to attend a Sunday graduation. Also, Senior Night, the traditional final party, is scheduled for Friday and will not be changed, Shuler said.
Others wanted the date to remain the same because the boys could make the two-hour drive back from Yakima in time for the ceremony, Shuler said.
Blades said he contacted the interscholastic activities association and was told they could not schedule the girls' tournament games around Warden's graduation. The baseball team has nine graduating players and one graduating manager. Three girls from the softball will graduate this year.
Last night's board meeting attracted about 30 people, including administrators and teachers. Shuler let those concerned about the issue speak before the board made its decision.
Robert Reyes, a senior and captain of the baseball team, said the team has outscored opponents 259-31 this year. He said he feels that team deserves consideration for all its hard work.
"If there's no chance for me to (go to graduation), then I'll go play ball," he said.
Another senior, Marc Grow, said he is not a member of the team but still wants his class to be together on graduation day.
"I want to graduate with my friends who are on the baseball team," Grow said.
Jim Yamamoto, who is a parent of a graduating senior, congratulated the teams on their success, but he supported keeping the date on Friday. "Are our priorities in education or in making kids athletes?" he said.