An emergency closed-door meeting of the school board that oversees Bonny Eagle High School was intended to give members a chance to question the superintendent about disruptions and discipline at last week's graduation, some members said Friday.
The School Administrative District 6 board of directors held a long private meeting Thursday night, when Superintendent Suzanne Lukas described the graduation ceremonies held June 12. Two students were denied their diplomas that night, and one of them was ejected from the Cumberland County Civic Center by a sheriff's deputy.
Lukas, who was handing out diplomas, has said she was trying to maintain order and uphold the school's written graduation expectations after a large inflated rubber duck and beach balls disrupted commencement speeches. But her reaction drew protests from some family members in the audience.
Thursday's meeting at the SAD 6 office in Buxton was a chance for board members, especially those who did not attend graduation, to hear from the superintendent before a special meeting Monday, when parents will address the board. Only four of the 14 board members attended the graduation.
"I have heard all kinds of rumors and stories, and Suzanne has been on vacation for two days," board Chairman David Hopkins of Standish said Friday. "I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk to her, and the full board wanted to hear, all together, the whole thing, which makes sense."
Hopkins described the motion to close the meeting to the public as a proposal "to discuss the performance of the superintendent of schools at graduation."
Asked whether the session's purpose should be construed as board members being critical of Lukas' performance, Hopkins declined to comment, saying a board's executive session to discuss personnel matters is confidential.
But Charlotte Dufresne, a board member from Limington, said she believes Lukas' handling of the event has the board's support.
Lukas did not return a call Friday; her staff said she was out of the office.
Dufresne was on the board in 2005, when inflatable toys, spray cans of Silly String and air horns created chaos at the graduation ceremony, she said. After that, a committee of parents and students developed the school's graduation expectations.
"I like, for my own self, the pomp and circumstance that lends itself to a graduation," she said.
After the speakers have finished and the diplomas have been awarded, then students should celebrate, she said.
That was the case at some other graduations, when graduates flipped their tassels, then tossed their mortarboards into the air as beach balls appeared.
Dufresne, who has worked as a substitute teacher, said she understands Lukas' desire to act decisively to keep a lid on disruptive behavior.
At the graduation in 2005, "it just totally spiraled out of control."
Hopkins, who also was on the board then, said the consensus was that "people wanted a formal ceremony," he said. "A ceremony, not a celebration."
He said Project Graduation, the alcohol-free all-night party that many schools put on for graduating seniors, is the appropriate time for celebrating.
"There is a time to celebrate and a time to be formal," he said. "You don't blow foghorns at a wedding."
Bonny Eagle is one of the largest high schools in the state, with about 1,400 students. "It's a big high school, 370-some-odd kids graduating, and 375 were great kids," Hopkins said.
The written expectations, signed by each senior and parent, said that students would be respectful, would not bring inflatable items such as beach balls, and could celebrate as a class at the end.
"Anyone who disrupts the ceremony will be escorted out of the Civic Center by security," it reads.
Board member Lawrence Miller said the board will gather more input before making a joint statement about Lukas and last week's...
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