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Partly Cloudy Seaford to stick with green and white
Caps and gowns could be all green by ’17
Seaford High School will stick with green and white graduation caps and gowns for at least one more year. The school was planning to go to all green this year, but following concerns raised by parents at last week’s Board of Education meeting, administrators decided to hold off on the change.
Superintendent Brian Conboy said on March 10 that graduates in June would all wear green. In the past, boys wore green and girls donned white, but the decision was made, at the request of the high school administration, to no longer distinguish the graduates by gender.
Conboy said that this change was being made “in the best interests of the total population of the student body. There are certain things you don’t know about our student population. Making it all one color respects all students.”
Several parents were unhappy with the change. “I saw it as a tradition in this town,” Lorraine Fiorello said, adding that Seaford’s colors are green and white and both should be incorporated in the ceremony. “Let’s remember tradition. Let’s remember pride.”
Another parent, Kim Schiralli, said her concern had to do with photographs. All the graduates’ photos were taken for the yearbook with boys in their green caps and gowns, and girls in white. Many parents spent hundreds of dollars on photo packages for something that would be inaccurate.
Don LaMere agreed, saying that his daugther’s photos wouldn’t match her reality. He said if the decision will be to have all green caps and gowns going forward, then there should be no white option for photos.
Conboy said administrators discussed the issue the following day, and he told the Herald on Monday morning that the 2016 graduation ceremony would continue in the tradition of green for boys and white for girls. He said the most compelling reason for holding off on the switch was the concern by parents of girls about the money they spent on photo packages, and understands them wanting what they wore in those pictures to match their graduation attire.
He said the hope is to move to an all-green ceremony for 2017. Next month, the juniors will have their senior pictures taken. Conboy said principal Scott Bersin will meet with students and parents to discuss the benefits of having everyone dressed in the same color. Administrators will make a final decision before those photos are taken.
