After an online poll indicated that Benicia High School graduating seniors and parents would rather hold their graduation at Diablo Valley College than at the school’s own George Drolette Stadium, school administrators made DVC’s stadium the new graduation location.

Throughout the 2016-17 school year, the Drolette Stadium has been under construction due to a renovation plan funded through Measure S. With several rainy days in the early months of 2017 delaying construction, administrators began exploring other possible locations, including the lower baseball fields, Vallejo High School’s Corbus Field, Solano Community College, Alhambra High School in Martinez and DVC. However, with the weather clearing up in March, quick progress was made on the field, increasing the likelihood of the graduation being held at Drolette Stadium, as it has been for many decades.

In April’s Panther Post newsletter, administrators noted that if the graduation were held at the stadium, it would remain an active construction site except for the time alloted to host graduation. In talking to other area high schools, Benicia High administrators learned that it is common for schools to use tickets and issue two to six per student, Principal Brianna Kleinschmidt said, so they decided to try it out at Benicia High for this year. As noted in the newsletter, seniors would only be allowed to invite six guests, and those who did not need all six tickets would be encouraged to give them to seniors who needed extra tickets or turn them into the main office to be raffled off in a lottery system before graduation.

The decision to limit the number of tickets drew mixed feedback from parents and seniors, with some expressing disappointment about having to turn down members of larger families and others expressing concerns about guests who had been invited from out of town and had already purchased plane tickets. After gaining feedback at a recent Student Forum, the administration decided to conduct an online poll to parents and seniors over whether they would rather have graduation held at Benicia High or DVC, which has a large capacity and was available to host the ceremony on the graduation date, Kleinschmidt said. As the results indicated, 53 percent of parents and guardians preferred DVC, as did 60 percent of students. As DVC’s stadium can seat up to 5,000 people, there will be no limit on the number of guests invited.

Kleinschmidt believes the school and the district did a good job responding to people’s suggestions during a rather hectic year of construction.

“All year, we heard our students tell us that they wanted their graduation on their field since the field was not available to them,” she said. “We anticipated that the community would be excited to have graduation as the first event on the new field and that six tickets, plus a lottery for additional ticket requests, would hold our normal average graduation attendance. When the feedback was not entirely positive, we quickly worked to discuss our options and offer an opportunity to get feedback from all of the seniors and their families and we are responding to that feedback. So, at the end of the day, I feel like the school and the district worked together well and handled the situation to the best of our ability given the circumstances.”

Kleinschmidt noted that the school would begin planning the 2018 graduation shortly after this year’s ceremony to be able to communicate important information to the Class of 2018 when the year begins.

The graduation will be held on the same time and date as previously scheduled: 11 a.m., Saturday, June 10. The senior barbecue and graduation practice will still be held at Benicia High on Friday, June 9. DVC is located at 321 Golf Club Road in Pleasant Hill. For additional information, feel free to contact Kleinschmidt or the vice principals at 747-8325.

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