Published Saturday, June 5, 1999 Jennifer, of West Salem Township, attended the first practice but went to Cedar Point with her boyfriend instead of the second practice. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to walk down the aisle," she said.
But when a school official called her Thursday and left word that she would be barred from the ceremony, Jennifer decided to try to get in line anyway.
"I'm going to defy them," she said just before leaving for the school. "I'm going to go."
When she got in line, an administrator armed with a cellular telephone told her that if she did not get out line the police would be called, she said.
"I didn't want to get arrested," she said. "That's a big consequence."
Jennifer was allowed to observe the ceremony from the audience and her name was announced as a graduate. She later received her diploma.
"It was awful," she said, crying, when she returned home. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I feel bad not getting to graduate with my class. I spent 13 years at Reynolds and I got (expletive deleted)."
Superintendent-elect Charles Cagno also felt bad but defended the decision.
"As a parent, nothing would be more heartbreaking to me than not being able to cross that stage," he said.
The school set up parameters for graduation and Jennifer did not meet them, he said. Although it might not require a rocket scientist to walk down the aisle, the ceremony is a very orderly process and there are cues each student needs to know, Cagno said. Students must practice them to get them right.
The state allows a district to hold up to three practices, and although Jennifer did not have to attend classes on the day of the second practice, it was considered an education day, one of the 180 days each student must attend each year.
"She not only cut practice, she cut school that day," Cagno said.
One other student who missed a practice had a doctor's appointment and the absence was excused, he said. That student was allowed to participate in commencement.
