Barrington High School officials are contemplating a change for the upcoming graduation date.

According to an email from Barrington High School Principal Christopher Ashley, the district is surveying families to see if they want to keep the BHS graduation ceremony on a Sunday or move it to a Saturday. For many years, BHS has held its graduation ceremony on Sunday afternoons. 

“We received feedback from families last school year that hosting graduation on Sunday afternoon may make it difficult for families to plan and host their own family celebrations,” Ashley wrote. 

“We brought this feedback to our School Improvement Team (SIT) earlier this fall and the SIT members felt it was important to gather feedback from all current senior families on the possibility of shifting graduation one day earlier to Saturday early afternoon.”

Embedded in the email was a link to the survey, which consisted of one option. “Please select your preferred option for graduation this June 2024: • I select the existing plan of Sunday, June 9th graduation and Friendship Service on Saturday, June 8th; or • I select moving graduation to Saturday, June 8th and Friendship Service to Friday evening, June 7th.”

In his email, Ashley wrote that the district will report back the district’s final decision to all senior families by early December. 

Last year’s graduation

Last year’s graduation date at Barrington High School included a bit of drama. 

In April, school officials announced that the graduation was being backed up a week because members of the Class of 2023 had not fulfilled the state-required 171 days of school. Students and their families reacted quickly — people sent emails to school officials, called the BHS office and posted comments online. One student created an online petition asking for school officials to reverse their decision. 

About a day later, officials did just that, moving the graduation back to its original date. Officials said the state waived the 171-day requirement for BHS seniors. 

Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore dismissed thoughts that this year’s graduates could face a similar situation.

“The issue was resolved last year and we are all set this year, we made sure of it,” Messore wrote in an email to the Barrington Times.