Grayslake parents say keep eighth-grade graduation ceremony

Strong parent feedback has prompted Grayslake Elementary District 46 to drop the idea of eliminating the eighth-grade graduation ceremony.

Results from a survey of parents released this month show 625 favored keeping the event, with 134 opposed. From the 759 survey respondents, that was a landslide ratio of 82 percent to 18 percent who still want the eighth-grade ceremony.

District 46 board President Michael Linder said officials received the parents' message loud and clear.

"I don't think that was any great surprise to anybody, but we had had people question why we did it, particularly people who came from other parts of the country and moved in here," said Linder, who has Texas roots. "It's kind of unusual to have eighth-grade graduation."

Debate about whether to continue the eighth-grade ceremony surfaced in August when District 46 board member Karen Weinert suggested dropping the annual festivities. Another board member, Susan Facklam, said she didn't believe the ceremony carried as much meaning as in the past.

Weinert said part of her opinion at the time resulted from feedback she received from her peers. She said she considers the idea of ending the eighth-grade ceremony a dead issue.

"We represent the people," Weinert said, "and they have spoken."

District 46 has paid a roughly $2,000 rental fee to use Grayslake North High School's gymnasium for the eighth-grade event. However, officials announced the high school no longer will be the graduation venue.

Two separate graduation ceremonies will be held. One will be at Park Campus in Round Lake, with the other at Grayslake Middle School.

Eighth-grade pomp-and-circumstance ended at Naperville-based Indian Prairie School District 204 in 2005. Lake Zurich Elementary District 95 has toyed with the idea of ending the grade school event.