Committee recommends removing attendance bar to let students who met graduation requirements participate in commencement

The Waunakee Community School District Policy Committee voted to forward a proposed change to the district’s graduation participation policy that would remove attendance as a bar to participating in the graduation ceremony for students who have otherwise met diploma requirements.

Tim (administrator) presented the change and said the participation policy has existed in district handbooks for many years. He said the committee’s position is that if a student has met the academic and credit requirements for a diploma, attendance should not automatically bar participation in the once-in-a-lifetime graduation ceremony.

Staff recommended the policy take effect one year after board approval so the high school and district can pursue additional attendance-support strategies; administrators described school-level task forces, earlier interventions starting in freshman year, and more proactive district communications to families as components of an attendance strategy. The committee also discussed aligning handbook language with state attendance law and removing an existing family-vacation “Mulligan” that extended allowable absences beyond state law.

Speakers noted that the DPI senior rule still allows a student to finish a senior year under state rules even if residency changes; that rule was discussed separately from the participation policy. The committee voted to forward the recommended participation change to the full board, with staff advising notification and handbook alignment to follow.

Next steps: staff will coordinate handbook language, provide attendance-improvement strategies for the high school, and present the participation policy to the full board for formal adoption.