Some oppose plan to move graduation
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

Allentown High School's class of 2007 will buck tradition and hold its commencement ceremony on June 20 at The College of New Jersey Recreation Center in Ewing.

Allentown High School (AHS) Principal Christopher Nagy said The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) Recreation Center has a seating capacity of 3,200. Costs for renting the site would amount to $7,600, he said, plus $3,000 in fixed costs for diplomas, ceremony programs and flowers.

The total cost of the commencement at $10,600 would represent a savings of approximately $2,386 compared to what it would cost to hold the ceremony on the high school campus, according to Nagy.

Last year, the cost to hold commencement on campus was $12,985, according to Nagy.

Interim Superintendent of Schools Robert Smith has said that having the ceremony on campus is great in good weather. However, he said, when it rains and graduation is held in the auditorium, the school is severely restricted as to the number of people it can allow to attend the ceremony.

Since it rained during three of the past five graduations, board member Jeanette Bressi said community members asked the board to look into a change of venue for the ceremony. The board formed a subcommittee to review options for the ceremony.

According to Nagy, the subcommittee even investigated the possibility of using the 1,200-seat auditorium being constructed, as well as Millstone Township's new middle school. Nagy said that given the results of the subcommittee's work, TCNJ would meet the school's needs for this year.

Student Rebecca Neucomer is not happy about the proposed change of venue. At the Jan. 17 Board of Education meeting, she told the board, "You can't place a monetary value on tradition. The football field is good enough."

Neucomer gave board President Joseph Stampe a petition signed by students who oppose the change of location for their graduation.

AHS senior Andrew Montgomery, of Allentown, said he likes the idea of having graduation at TCNJ.

"I may not like driving to get there since the [high] school is two minutes away from my house," he said. "However, I will enjoy it."

Andrew thinks it would be nice to be the first AHS class to start a new tradition.

"However, whether the graduation is at TCNJ or AHS, I will just be glad to get my diploma with my fellow classmates," he said.

Andrew also noted that it rained at several recent graduations held on the high school campus.

"At TCNJ, we do not need to worry about that," he said, adding that AHS will also save money by holding the commencement ceremony elsewhere.

Andrew suggested that the money saved be invested in better computers for the high school's computer science classes, since he has taken four computer classes with computers that are unable to handle certain tasks.