School board pleased with graduation

Moving graduations for Lawrence’s high schools from Kansas University’s Memorial Stadium to Allen Fieldhouse seemed to go smoothly for the school district.

Sue Morgan, school board president, and Randy Weseman, superintendent, said at Tuesday’s school board meeting that graduating the roughly 800 outgoing seniors indoors at the fieldhouse went off without a hitch.

District officials made the switch to the fieldhouse two days before graduation when they were told that construction around Memorial Stadium might make for a traffic nightmare.

The switch wasn’t entirely unexpected because the fieldhouse had been the backup site in case of inclement weather Sunday.

Weseman said he was grateful for KU’s flexibility.

“The university has a lot going on; they have to go out of their way to help us,” Weseman said.

And in the end, it was an indoor version of Weseman’s favorite day of the school year.

“For me, that is the moment you can see the fruits of your labor walk across the stage,” he said.

In other school board action on a light agenda Tuesday, the board:

l recognized Jennifer Attocknie, a member of the Comanche Nation who will become the new American Indian student services coordinator for the district.

l approved a purchase contract for music lockers at South Junior High School to provide storage for the band and vocal rooms. The contract is for $55,328.