By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

Decker Lenard arrived at the Cumberland County Civic Center last week excited to celebrate his graduation with friends. Diploma in hand, the Bonny Eagle High School graduate left disappointed with the “massive debacle” that unfolded inside.

The debacle, say some parents and students, involved the administration cracking down on graduates celebrating with beach balls and denying two students their diplomas. A deputy from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office removed one student from the ceremony.

Since the ceremony, several parents have expressed disappointment with the way the administration handled the situation and have called for a review of graduation policies. The MSAD 6 Board of Directors has scheduled a workshop for 6 p.m. Monday at Bonny Eagle Middle School to review graduation expectations. 

Superintendent Suzanne Lukas was out of the district for several days early this week and unavailable for comment. Repeated phone calls to Principal Beth Schultz were not returned by press time Wednesday.

Assistant Superintendent Rick Matthews would not comment on the ceremony except to say no students were denied diplomas. He said the board of directors scheduled a special meeting to review the district’s graduation policies and address concerns from parents.

“They want to be responsive to the community’s response to the gathering,” he said.

Michael Delcourt, a board of directors member from Standish, said he as received “a lot, a real lot” of positive feedback from parents who do not want a “carnival atmosphere” at graduation. Four years ago, the district had a “very bad graduation” and Lukas was following the board’s instructions to keep the ceremony under control, he said.

Delcourt said Monday’s workshop was scheduled to find out what the problem was and what people want to do to fix it. He also noted it is important to remember that the actions of two students should not overshadow the respectful behavior of nearly 300 other graduates.

Meg Hastings of Hollis, Lenard’s mother, said the ceremony began with a “good vibe and everyone happy.” That disappeared quickly when beach balls began appearing during a teacher’s speech.

“They hauled out a huge blow-up rubber ducky beach ball,” she said. “It was fairly amusing but inappropriate.” 

Hastings said administrators were “practically climbing over kids’ heads to get to the ball.” When another ball went up, the school resource officer was called to stage and sat down next to a student.

“He actually took the kid who was sitting next to my son off the stage,” she said.

Lenard said the student, Taylor Lamy, had nothing to do with the beach balls, which were blown up by students sitting behind them. He said Deputy John Cross, the school resource officer, told Lamy to leave the stage and threatened to put handcuffs on him if he did not, despite Lamy’s statements he knew nothing about the balls.

Attempts to reach Lamy and his family for comment were unsuccessful.

Capt. Jeff Davis of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said Cross attended the ceremony in his dress uniform and did not anticipate problems.

“He was there not in a law enforcement capacity. He was there for the ceremony,” Davis said.

Davis said Lukas asked for assistance from Cross when “things started getting out of hand” with a student who was unruly. Cross did his best to move the student away from the ceremony. Outside, the student became verbally abusive and Cross felt he could have arrested him but did not, he said. Davis said that was a good decision given the circumstances. 

Davis said Cross told him the student threw his gown on the ground in frustration and was very upset. Security guards at the civic center witnessed the “heated” exchange and called for backup. Two Portland police officers responded but cleared the scene within a few minutes because they were not needed, he said. 

Davis said this is the first time the department has dealt with a negative experience at a Bonny Eagle graduation.

“This is a situation that unfortunately escalated,” he said.

Looking back on the events that transpired, several parents say the administration’s reaction likely caused the situation to escalate to the point where parents were yelling and heckling the superintendent from the audience.

According to Hastings, after Lamy was removed from the ceremony, another student who was not identified by witnesses was denied his diploma on stage because he bowed to his parents and blew a kiss while pulling a green and white cord from around his neck. He was told by Lukas to return to his seat, she said.

School administrators would not identify any students involved.

Parents also say Lukas refused to hand two students diplomas right way because they were not properly holding their roses. One had the rose tucked under his hat and the other gripped it between his teeth.

“It turned into something where I cringed every time a kid deviated from simply walking across the stage,” Hastings said.

Mary Weyer of Hollis attended the ceremony to watch her daughter, Madeline, graduate. She arrived expecting to have a good time and left sick to her stomach about what happened, she said. 

“All of it, it felt like it was not a celebration of these kids’ accomplishment,” she said. “It felt more like a last-ditch effort for the administration to show their might.”

Hastings and Weyer said they both feel the administration overreacted to the beach balls and should have let them fall to the floor to avoid further distractions. 

“It took a lot away from their accomplishments,” Hastings said. “All I can think of is what a bad taste was in my mouth when I left. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.”

For Lenard and classmate Madeline Weyer, the ceremony was hardly what they imagined. Both pointed out beach balls at graduation are a tradition and people shouldn’t have been surprised to see them. Lenard said he thought they were funny, though he did not bring one to the ceremony. 

“I get that we’re not allowed to have beach balls, but it’s a tradition that’s been in place for longer than this rule,” Lenard said. 

Before the ceremony, participating seniors and their parents were required to sign a “graduation expectations” contract, though Hastings and Mary Weyer say they never saw or signed the agreement. The expectations outlines proper attire, prohibits students from decorating their caps or carrying anything other than a single yellow rose provided by the school. 

The agreement also prohibits the use of noisemakers or inflatable items, including beach balls, and limits celebration to the end of the ceremony. It also states “students will be respectful of the guest speaker and student performers during his/her presentation.”

Madeline Weyer said she thinks beach balls are harmless and the administration made the situation worse by the way they reacted.

“They just inflamed the situation instead of calming everyone down,” she said. “If the reaction wasn’t as big by the staff, it probably would have died down.”

Lenard and Madeline Weyer said they were upset their classmates were not given diplomas on stage. Both said their friends are also frustrated and disappointed with the ceremony.

“It’s a celebration. It shouldn’t be crazy and wild, but it’s still a celebration,” Madeline Weyer said. “That’s not what you imagine when you think about graduating.”

Lenard said graduation disruptions “definitely colored the experience,” but he has tried to not let it overshadow the reason he was celebrating.

“This was a celebration of what we accomplished over 12 years of blood, sweat and tears,” he said.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.