For the past two years, Farmingdale High School graduating seniors had their ceremony at the gymnasium at SUNY Farmingdale. At a meeting of the board of education last week, Superintendent of Schools Gerard Dempsey announced that due to continuing construction, SUNY Farmingdale is unsure if their facility will be available the last week of June when the graduation ceremony usually takes place.

This brought about a number of possibilities and questions in the district. First, the school district, which has always kept the graduation ceremony within the community, is reluctant to move to a new location such as Hofstra University or the Tilles Center at C.W. Post, where several high schools hold their graduation ceremonies each summer. The school district believes that in upholding tradition, the ceremony should not travel far from the community, if at all.

In addition, board members suggested to bring the ceremony back to its original location, the field at Farmingdale High School. At the meeting, Superintendent Dempsey pointed out that in past years graduation ceremonies held outside the high school were always successful, if weather cooperates.

In the event of inclement weather, if the ceremony were to be held at the high school, graduating seniors would only be permitted to invite two guests, due to the capacity of the gymnasium. One of the suggestions to solve this problem, presented by board member Jane Rubinstein, was to install video equipment in the high school auditorium so any family members or friends who exceed the two-invitee limit can watch the ceremony on the auditorium screen.

With this idea, a video camera would be set up in the gymnasium where the ceremony is taking place and people in the auditorium would be able to observe everything on a large screen. At the board meeting, Dempsey stated that the district will certainly look into this possibility.

Another problem with holding the ceremony at the school if there were rainy weather conditions would be that the field could become damaged if it rained even days before the ceremony. School District Director of Operations Ed Cullen stated at the board meeting that hundreds of chairs set up on a damp field could possibly cause long-term and even permanent damage to the football field.

In an attempt to solve this problem, suggestions were made to put down flooring on the grass or even possibly set up a tent over the ceremony site. However, these ideas would also prove faulty as flooring can also cause damage to the grass, which would be flattened by the flooring and may not grow back properly for months if at all. In addition, setting up a tent over the field would block the field of vision for guests sitting in the bleachers, preventing them from seeing anything occurring under the tent.

Although SUNY Farmingdale hasn't told the school district that their construction will definitely not be completed prior to the graduation date, the board said that they would prefer to come up with an alternate solution in case the facility would in fact not be available. School Board President Anthony Vitale said going back to the way it used to be, holding the graduation at the high school, would only benefit both students and guests. "Having it at the high school would bring [the students] back to their home school," Vitale said.

Residents and parents of high school seniors present at the meeting agreed with Vitale's suggestion. One resident, who attended the ceremony at SUNY Farmingdale last year, said that the event was overcrowded and just too much of a production.

A Farmingdale high school senior's parent also agreed with the suggestion, saying that she knows that her child, a class officer, as well as many of their senior friends, would like to see the ceremony return to the high school. She explained that she didn't want to speak for them, but that she thinks it would be a good idea.

Dempsey stated that the board does not want to take the matter any further until both members of the PTA and high school seniors are addressed on the issue. Vitale agreed, saying they are the most important people involved in this matter, and that the decision should ultimately be left up to the senior class as it is their graduation. Some students have already been contacted and the matter of the graduation location is still being discussed.