Illinois Students Get Diplomas Originally Denied Because Of Cheers At Graduation Ceremony

Wednesday, June 6th 2007, 5:23 pm

By: News On 6

GALESBURG, Ill. (AP) _ Five students will get the diplomas they were denied when cheers erupted for them at a high school graduation, and school officials said Wednesday they would review a get-tough decorum policy.

Galesburg High School officials had said they would not hand over the keepsake diplomas unless they received apologies. But the stalemate over the diplomas and the media attention it attracted have taken valuable time and energy, they said.

``It is time for the good of the community, the school district, the families and the students involved to move on,'' Superintendent Gene Denisar said in a written statement.

The diplomas were withheld because the school said cheering violated a school policy aimed at restoring graduation decorum. The students still were considered graduates on paper, but they didn't have a diploma.

Graduate Nadia Trent, who picked up her diploma from the school secretary Wednesday afternoon, said she's ``just happy it's over.''

``If they would have apologized, it would have been better,'' said Trent.

Denisar cited talks with the Illinois State Board of Education, which has said it cannot support the district's decorum policy because it makes students responsible for behavior they cannot control, in explaining the decision.

The central Illinois school district about 150 miles southwest of Chicago will continue efforts to make commencement a ``respectful and dignified occasion that all graduates and their families can enjoy,'' school board President Michael Panther said in statement. Officials did not say how they planned to review the no-cheer policy.

Peoria attorney Jeffrey Green, who took the students' case at no cost, sent a letter late Tuesday threatening to sue the district if officials did not apologize and deliver the diplomas by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

``They met with the families two or three times and had a chance to get this thing right,'' Green said. ``I've been involved less than 24 hours, and now they have their diplomas, so you draw your own conclusions.''

Parent Pam Kelley said she was disappointed that school officials did not apologize and that her daughter, Amanda, was handed the diploma by a high school secretary, not principal Tom Chiles.

``At least he could have come out and shook her hand and said congratulations,'' Kelley said.