The school board will decide next month whether the Merritt Secondary School class of 2014 can have its graduation dance at MSS.
At the school board meeting on Nov. 13, School District 58 superintendent Bob Peacock told the board the parent graduation committee requested to use the MSS gymnasium for its graduation dance, but MSS principal Bill Lawrence asked that not happen given the amount of money it cost to upgrade the gym.
The school’s gymnasium recently underwent about $800,000 in renovations, which Lawrence said he wants to protect from damage by keeping a number of student activities, including school dances, out of the gym.
“It’s been really done nicely, and we now have a gym that we can really be proud of,” Lawrence told the Herald. “For me, minimizing the events that damage that floor is what I’m looking to do. Grad was an event that damaged that whole gym in a big way.”
The renovations include a resurfaced floor, electronic bleachers, new paint in the entire gym, renovated change rooms, new basketball hoops and upgraded lights.
At the meeting, the school board passed a motion to have the building committee look into whether or not the grad dance should be held at the gym and report back in December with its recommendation.
School trustee Richie Gage told the Herald the building committee will be gathering input from teachers, the principal, parents and students on the issue.
At the meeting, Gage suggested the graduation dance be held at the old Coquihalla Middle School gym as the district already owns the building, so the parents committee would not have to pay any additional costs to hold it there.
Another option for the dance would be the Merritt Civic Centre. The board agreed to foot the bill for a non-refundable $500 security deposit to book the Civic Centre in the event the grad committee cannot use the gym.
However, student trustee Mackenzie Finch told the board at the meeting that grads want to say goodbye to the MSS gym as they’ve made many memories there as opposed to other locations.
“We’ve discovered who we are in that school,” she said.
Student trustee Emily Maloney told the Herald students are willing to take precautions to ensure the gym floor is not damaged by the grad dance, going as far as to say they’ll take off their shoes when in the gym.
Co-chair of the parent graduation committee Terri-Lynn Colter said the majority of students she’s talked with at committee meetings tell her the soon-to-be grads want to use their school’s gym.
“It’s not about changing the facility, it’s not about the cost of the facility. To them and to everyone who is fighting for them, it’s the tradition,” Colter said.
Colter said the ceremony in the gym is a tradition and many students have watched their older siblings, cousins and even aunts and uncles go through this particular graduation ceremony and want to graduate in the same way.
“It’s a huge tradition,” she said.
Colter said it will cost $2,000 to rent the Civic Centre plus the cost of an insurance policy for the evening in the event they are not covered by the school’s policy. That cost is estimated between $250 and $500, she said.
The decorations are at issue as well as the committee can take up to a week to decorate, which interrupts gym classes during set up and take down.?Over the years, the decorations have also damaged the walls, Gage said.
Their decorations committee estimates a cost of $2,000 alone for the decor, Colter told the Herald. ?Colter said they are willing to decorate without using tape, staples or anything that can damage the walls.
Colter said this issue is not about one side versus the other, but finding a solution that will be best for the grads of 2014.
“We all work together all the time and we have to work together to run this grad class so it’s not about their side [against] our side. There are things I agree with on their side and there are things that they agree with on our side,” Colter said. “We’re just trying to do what’s best for the kids and what the kids want.”
For now, students and their parents will have to wait until the school board’s decision comes back next month.
“It’s gone to the hands of the board,” Lawrence said. “They’re making the decision, and definitely, if I’m instructed that grad needs to be held there, that’s what I’ll do.”
