Waterford Man: Graduation Date Should Be Set Sooner

Thursday night, Waterford’s Board of Education set the graduation date for Waterford High School for Tuesday, June 25, with the promotion ceremony for Clark Lane Middle School scheduled for the day before.

But for Alan Wilensky, a member of the Waterford Board of Finance, it wasn’t done early enough.

Waterford – like most other towns in Connecticut – set their graduation dates after April 1, once snow days are theoretically done with. Wilensky said the town should do it earlier, as two months does not give extended families enough time to plan their trips for the graduation.

Wilensky said it was a state law that required Connecticut to set the graduation date so late. However, in an interview with Superintendent Jerome Belair Friday, he said that he was not aware of any state law. Instead, he said it is done then so it as accurate as possible. 

The Gripe

Wilensky said his wife’s family is from the Midwest. To see his son’s graduation, they obviously have to take time off of work and buy tickets to get to Waterford, and only giving two-months notice is not enough, he said.

However, Belair said it is nearly impossible to predict how many snow days there will be, which obviously effects the graduation date. This year, for example, the last day of school was pushed back by more than a week because of cancellations from Superstorm Sandy, the February blizzard and other snow days. Meanwhile, last year there was no snow days, he said.

Waterford has to get at least 180 days of school in, per state law, and the district tries to do 182, Belair said. He said two-months notice is generally enough notice to get time off of work and said it would be very difficult to set the date before that.

Do you think Wilensky has a point? Is this an inconvience for you and your family?