Diploma Denied Student Who Blew Mom a Kiss

A high school student was denied his high school diploma earlier this month, for behaviour the characterized as “fooling around” during his graduation ceremony – something that was not permitted by the terms of a conduct contract the students were obliged to sign before they could get tickets to the event.

Bonny Eagle High School’s handbook “recognizes the right of every student or employee to attend/work at school in an environment free of intimidation, ridicule, hostility, and offensiveness.” At the same time it also allows for students to be subjected to suspensions of at least 10 days and even referred for expulsion for what it calls “insubordination or disrespect” – no definition given of what acts constitute these infractions – and it gives school staff the right to search or question a student without informing the student’s parents.

Justin Denney is waiting to receive his diploma by mail. His family members are asking for a public apology, and that the superintendent of schools step down. They have consulted a lawyer and are considering legal action as a result of the incident.

From what I could glean about the whole affair, there was a tremendous disruption of the graduation that included one other student being escorted out of the ceremony by a deputy sheriff, under threat of being handcuffed. As a result Taylor Lamy, whom other students claim is innocent of any wrongdoing, was also deprived of his diploma.

Parents also say Lukas refused to hand two students diplomas right way because they were not properly holding their roses. One had the rose tucked under his hat and the other gripped it between his teeth.

While the superintendent apparently relaxed her standards after being booed by the audience as she denied young Denney his diploma, it would seem that a total of four students in all may have left the ceremony without diplomas.

School and school board officials have been very tight-lipped about the incident. Although the one comment made has been that there was a great deal of parent support for the officials cracking down on the student behaviour, there are also a number of students and their families who believe that the rowdiness was very poorly handled by Superintendent Suzanne Lukas, in particular. An emergency meeting of the school district was called earlier this week to look into the superintendent’s handling of the situation.

Looking back on the events that transpired, several parents say the administration’s reaction likely caused the situation to escalate to the point where parents were yelling and heckling the superintendent from the audience.

As can be seen from the video, there was a certain feeling that school officials were taking the event too seriously, and lacked judgement when they failed to redirect attention to the positive aspects of the ceremony. Administration reactions instead resulted in the humiliation of students, heckling from parents in the audience, and a general escalation of events. There were no arrests, but just to be saying that a boy was led away from his graduation by police because of a couple of beach balls has me shaking my head.

“It turned into something where I cringed every time a kid deviated from simply walking across the stage,” [parent Meg] Hastings said.

Mary Weyer of Hollis attended the ceremony to watch her daughter, Madeline, graduate. She arrived expecting to have a good time and left sick to her stomach about what happened, she said.

“All of it, it felt like it was not a celebration of these kids’ accomplishment,” she said. “It felt more like a last-ditch effort for the administration to show their might.”

Hastings and Weyer said they both feel the administration overreacted to the beach balls and should have let them fall to the floor to avoid further distractions.

“It took a lot away from their accomplishments,” Hastings said. “All I can think of is what a bad taste was in my mouth when I left. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.”

Dr. Todd Bernston, who writes a relationships column, commented on the degree of hostility displayed by Lukas towards the students who did not perfectly conform to her expectations:

On the surface, this just seems like an absurd situation: A kid being denied his diploma for simply blowing a kiss to his mother. But what is particularly disturbing about this case is the willful humiliation of him in front of the entire community . . .

That the superintendent displayed a profound degree of insensitivity and hostility toward this kid is beyond question. Even more disturbing is that she felt fully justified in behaving this way . . .

As I see it, this is just one example in a growing movement of dehumanization in our country where any behavior that deviates from a militaristic mechanized efficiency is somehow seen as a threat to our social fabric. Expressions of enthusiasm and fun, while they can make graduation ceremonies more chaotic, should be accepted as part of the excitement of making the transition from childhood to adulthood. After all, graduation ceremonies are for the kids, not the superintendent. It is their day and they have earned the right to blow a kiss to their mother if they choose.

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Tags: Bonney Eagle High School, graduation, Justin Denney, maine, Standish