Having additional locations will take parents out of heat
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GILROY
District staff, eighth-graders and parents won’t have to endure scorching heat at promotion ceremonies this summer if the board of trustees approves the recommendation of Superintendent Deborah Flores and Gilroy’s three middle school principals.
Historically, eighth-grade promotion ceremonies were held at the Christmas Hill Park amphitheater at 3, 5 and 7 p.m. Last year, temperatures creeped up to 106 degrees at the 3 p.m. ceremony and didn’t subside until after dark. Families, staff and students were seated in direct sun, creating health concerns for everyone in the audience. The traffic jams that resulted from attendees coming to or leaving from the back-to-back ceremonies didn’t help the situation. Traffic became so chaotic, the Gilroy Police Department requested that the schools look at hosting ceremonies at separate sites, South Valley Middle School principal, John Perales, said.
Principals have taken the GPD’s suggestion to heart and propose to solve these problems by bringing the ceremonies closer to home, on their own campuses, earlier in the morning to beat the stifling heat.
The extreme temperatures landed an Ascension Solorsano Middle School counselor in the hospital and a number of other weather related issues have arisen over the years, principal, Sal Tomasello, said.
The recommendation was met with both concern and support from the board.
“I have long thought that each school should have its own ceremony on site,” Board Member Denise Apuzzo said. Now that middle school encompasses three grade levels instead of the two that are included in junior highs, “the kids are more vested in their schools” and want to see their ceremonies held on campus, she said. Although she backed the location change, she pointed out that not as many family members and teachers would be able to attend morning ceremonies.
The change of venue will also have a fiscal impact of $3,000 for chairs, stages, sound systems and the traffic control services of the GPD. The principals have already chosen tentative sites for their ceremonies.
The South Valley, Solorsano and Brownell promotion exercises can be held at the SVMS football field, the Solorsano quad and the lawn area at the corner of Third Street and Carmel Street, respectively.
Tomasello wants to notify parents of the board’s decision by the first of the year.
Board Member Francisco Dominguez agreed that if there were to be a change in time and location, parents should be aware of the decision as soon as possible.
