Sylvania Southview High School has an ongoing practice of making graduation ceremony participation contingent on Senior Assembly and graduation practice attendance. This is an unfair and poorly executed policy based on the following reasons:

1. Graduation ceremony attendance should only be contingent on fulfilling the academic graduation requirements outlined by the State of Ohio and Sylvania Schools.

2. For the 2023 graduation practice, Sylvania Southview has not upheld its own policy of "In order to participate in the graduation practice, students must ride the school provided transportation to and from the venue." The 2023 graduation practice was held in the Sylvania Southview gym instead of at Huntington Center, the graduation venue. The school did not provide all graduating students with transportation to Sylvania Southview or Huntington Center that day. In accordance with the policy, any student who did not ride a Sylvania Schools bus or other Sylvania Schools-provided transportation to Southview on the day of graduation practice should be disqualified from attending the graduation ceremony.

3. The official 2022-2023 Graduation Ceremony Participation Requirements as presented in the 2022-2023 Southview Student Handbook are not readily available for viewing, as the Sylvania Southview website links to the 2021-2022 Southview Student Handbook under both the "School Information" and the "For Students" submenus.

Based on Sylvania Southview's failure to properly post the 2022-2023 Southview Student Handbook (item #3 above) and erroneous execution of its own policy (item #2 above) for the 2022-2023 school year, we request that enforcement of this policy be suspended for the 2022-2023 school year. Furthermore, we request that the Graduation Ceremony Participation Requirements of mandatory Senior Assembly and graduation attendance (item #1 above) be eliminated moving forward, as these requirements are incompatible with the graduation ceremony's spirit of cumulative academic achievement.

FOR REFERENCE:

The 2021-2022 Sylvania Southview Student Handbook (page 25) reads:

"GRADUATION CEREMONY PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
In order to participate (walk) in the graduation ceremony, students must attend the Senior Assembly and graduation practice. In order to participate in the graduation practice, students must ride the school provided transportation to and from the venue."

Board-approved changes to the 2022-2023 SV Student Handbook, which do not include a change to the Graduation Ceremony Participation Requirements policy.