Hamer: Middle Township High School Needs to Shift Graduations Inside

COURT HOUSE — Is it time for Middle Township High School to get an indoor venue for graduation?
Board of Education member Burgess “Butch” Hamer believes it is. He voiced his concern to the full board on June 19 at its monthly meeting about the June 16 graduation at Memorial Field, which was shortened by a thunderstorm. The occasion was pared to a scant 30-minute ceremony.
Graduates “had their diplomas thrown at them, they were shortchanged. We should not make the same mistake twice,” said board member George DeLollis.
Hamer said he was “personally embarrassed to do that (graduation) balancing act every year.”
“It is past time to move on to another venue,” he declared one where the board would “not worry about weather,”’ and which would be safer for graduates and their families.
“We should look into taking graduation to the Wildwoods Convention Center,” he added. He took the liberty to inquire about the cost, $2,000.
“It behooves us to make this move to the Wildwoods Convention Center,” he added.
While board Vice President Dennis Roberts conceded the issue of safety, he asked the board to consider the “value to the citizenry” of having pupils graduate in the municipality.
“I’m not against looking at alternatives,” Roberts replied, “We should look at moving the time up.”
The 6 p.m. time has been a standard for about a decade.
According to board member Andrew Melchiorre, who has served eight years, four of those graduations have been rain-threatened, he said.
“I think as a Middle Township graduate, to graduate in Middle Township is important to me,” Roberts said.
If an earlier time would not be desirable, Roberts said the Performing Arts Center could be used with a series of closed-circuit television screens in the cafeteria so “overflow” would not be turned away.
“I disagree with that,” said Hamer, a township high school alumnus, who recalled graduating from the Strand Theatre on the Wildwood Boardwalk.
“For a long period of time, that’s where you graduated,” he noted.
Again, he cited safety, where lives were threatened by lightning and inaccessibility for handicapped persons, or their ability to quickly exit in event of a storm at Memorial Field.
Hamer also turned thumbs down to the Performing Arts Center as he recalled working graduations as a police officer, and having to turn some family members away, due to lack of seating.
“I felt the parents’ pain. Their child has been in the school for 12 years, now you’re telling me I can’t get into the PAC? I’m a taxpayer,” he stated.
When such warnings were given, nerves were tense, and “there were almost fist fights,” he said.
“I’m telling you, it’s not worth it. I have worked both sides of the spectrum. If you want to take that risk, I don’t want to take that risk,” he added.
“That could have been a disaster on Monday (June16). We just lucked out,” Hamer warned.
DeLollis added to the discussion, “Children graduate once, for better or worse. We are here to make it better,” said DeLollis.
“Monday night went poorly,” DeLollis added.
Melchiorre agreed with Hamer, and voiced his concern of moving the time to something earlier in the afternoon.
“For people who work, it’s hard enough to get out at 4 p.m. for the 6 p.m. graduation,” Melchiorre said.
Hamer interjected another thought, to those who might say graduate from the gymnasium.
“When it was in the gym, that was another fiasco, people were coming from out of state and not knowing where to go, there were about eight accidents on the Garden State Parkway at Shellbay Avenue. You’ve got to consider all these factors, like it was raining, it was just a mess,” said Hamer.
“It’s a serious, serious problem. It’s that simple,” said Hamer.
“I think you’re making a good point,” said board President Calvin Back.
Member Daniel Money asked that the superintendent and administration “look at options” and bring them to the board for consideration.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com