Gillett graduation date stays the same

Slightly more than half answered a survey
By: 
Luke Reimer
Reporter

Graduation for Gillett High School will be held on May 29 for the 2021-22 school year.

The Gillett School Board discussed the possibility of moving the graduation to May 27 after superintendent Todd Hencsik had sent out a survey to seniors and parents, asking about their preferred date for the ceremony.

“There were 44 responses out of a total of 80 who could have responded,” Hencsik said. “The question on the survey was: What date and time do you prefer?”

The final vote was in favor of keeping the date as it is on a 3-2 vote, with board members Preston Peterson and Ron Lenz excused from the meeting.

Hencsik said that 43% of the respondents answered that they preferred Friday, May 27; 25% preferred Saturday, May 28; and 31% preferred Sunday, May 29. The ceremony has been held on Sundays for years and has been on the calendar for May 29.

Hencsik also gave respondents an opportunity to leave comments on the survey.

“One respondent who chose Sunday would also be fine with moving it to Friday,” he said. “Somebody said that the Friday would be good for weekend graduation parties and family and friends traveling.”

Hencsik called the option of moving the graduation date an opportunity to try something new, because the data supports it.

“We can do it one year on Friday and see how it goes,” said Hencsik.

Board member Jaime Heroux’s concern was that not everyone answered the survey.

“Two-thirds of the respondents were in favor of moving the graduation to Friday, but only about half of the people responded,” Heroux said. “If you look at the numbers, 19 were for Friday, 11 for Saturday and 14 for Sunday.”

Board member Katie Daul said that she would be in support of moving the graduation to Friday.

“If people wanted to have a vacation afterwards, they can still do that,” said Daul.

Heroux asked, out of the 44 responses, how many were parents and how many were students? Due to not having the capability of tracking who responded, that question could not be answered.

Hencsik reiterated that this was an opportunity for Gillett to try something new.

“No matter what we do, we won’t be able to please everyone,” said Hencsik.

Board treasurer Cliff Gerbers continued to show concern with the number of people who answered the survey.

“If we had, say, 40 students and four parents respond, maybe that’s not really representative of our community,” Gerbers said.


lreimer@newmedia-wi.com