Parent: I Was Barred From My Kid's Graduation

The following letter was sent to Assistant Superintendent Scott Brabrand by a West Potomac High School parent. 

By Bill Laux

No parent should be prevented from watching their child graduate from High School.  But I was, along with at least 30 other parents that I recognized, for no good reason. I am referring to the recent ceremony that was held at the Hayfield Secondary campus.  This letter may be a bit verbose, but it’s important for you to understand what many parents went through at this poorly-planned event.  

I held a valid white ticket to yet I was physically barred from entering by the FC Police.  Nowhere on the ticket or in the published instructions or during a Cliff Hardison robo-call was there any mention made of a 3:00PM deadline for entrance, nor that it would be enforced by a police barricade. 

At 2:45 there was no parking at the school, and things were no less than chaotic, so I dropped my wife off at the front east entrance.  The instructions promised police traffic control in the area to speed entrance.  There was none, they were all inside preparing to block the entrances to the field house.   

Once I finally found makeshift parking, I ran to the west entrance of the school where just  inside, I was stopped and told that I and many others would have to wait until the graduates finished lining up and processed before we could enter.  After all 500 or so graduates entered, we were allowed to proceed to the entrance where police told us the doors were closed, and no further entrance was permitted.  We were told to turn around and go to the overflow auditorium and watch our kids graduate on TV, no exceptions. 

 I noticed many other people also with valid white tickets being denied entry from the front east entrance and told to go watch the ceremony on TV. The overflow auditorium was a noisy place being patrolled by WPHS security personnel, who were yelling at people to be quiet.  I watched in the auditorium with disbelief, unable to hear very much, shocked at the turn of events.  

My daughter was in the front row of the ceremony, an honor student with a 4.0 GPA, and my wife was in the field house alone.  The fact that I had spent countless hours as a volunteer being on the band board, Captain of the Pit Papas for three years, repairing instruments and equipment, traveling to competitions all over the state for marching band and drumline, now meant nothing in my predicament.  

After watching my daughter walk across the stage on TV to receive her medal for being an Honor Student, I decided to return to the lobby to see if the rules had changed again in hopes of at least watching her receive her diploma. The police were still enforcing no entrance to the field house.  

While there, I witnessed another well-dressed Dad exit the TV auditorium and engage a police officer in a heated, profane attempt to enter the field house.  After he was denied, he walked 15 feet down the security tape, ducked under it, and made a dash for the entrance door.  The police caught him, grabbed him around the shoulders, and physically restrained him.  After more yelling and profanities, they pushed him back toward the TV auditorium and gave him the choice:  jail or watch on TV.  

I was horrified to see that such a joyous event had been reduced to the level of a protest march. I have attended many graduation ceremonies that were well-run and enjoyable, despite large crowds and limited facilities.  It was apparent to me that Mr. Hardison’s so-called planning for this event was focused on crowd control in the field house, and not about making a great and memorable event for the graduates and families.  

The combination of the parking debacle, and no reasonable provision for all white ticket-bearing parent arrivals from every entrance before and during the ceremony made for a very unpleasant experience.  I had to do my best to not let it affect my daughter’s proudest day. 

I have nothing to personally gain by writing you.  Our only child is off to Virginia Tech next fall so we likely will not be attending another Cliff Hardison-run graduation ceremony.  But, I don’t want to see any more parents put through the same frustration and miss a once-in-a-lifetime event.  

I urge you to examine the leadership capability of Mr. Hardison, and his ability to work with others and communicate with the parents.  I view this as a total failure on his part, in which he has done irreparable damage to his community.