East Aurora School District 131 officials are weighing bringing high school graduation back to campus.
Since 2016, East Aurora High School’s graduation has been held at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. During that time the district has built a new high school stadium, and the district’s three-year contract to use NIU’s Convocation Center will be expiring after 2018 graduation.
The district is weighing the costs and logistics of having graduation at NIU versus the high school campus, district spokesman Tom Jackson said. Any changes to graduation location would not affect the class of 2018, which will still receive diplomas at Northern Illinois University.
When the contract to use the Northern Illinois Convocation Center was approved, the fee was set at $12,400 per year plus the cost of printing tickets. School board committee meeting minutes show the upcoming cost of having graduation at NIU includes an estimated $12,900 for rental fees, $2,500 deposit and $4,000 for transportation.
The minutes show the estimated cost to have graduation in the new high school stadium was placed at $68,652. The largest expenses would be to cover the field’s turf and to rent a band shell, according to the meeting minutes.
Meeting minutes show the committee, which includes board members Ken Darby, Bruce Schubert and board President Annette Johnson, agreed to have graduation at Northern Illinois, but Johnson said Friday officials were still weighing the decision.
Other area school districts, including West Aurora High School, have graduation at Northern Illinois as well.
Space remains a concern, East Aurora High School Principal Marina Kosak said. If graduation is held at the high school and the weather is poor, the ceremony must be held inside and there is less space for guests, she said.
At Northern Illinois, where graduation is held indoors, there is enough space to accommodate guests regardless of the weather, Kosak said.
“To me, that’s huge,” Kosak said. “That our families get to see their kids walk across the stage.”
Northern Illinois holds many schools’ graduation ceremonies and is familiar with the process, Jackson said. As an added bonus, Kosak said, the school’s colors are red and black, the same as East Aurora High School colors.
But travel to Northern Illinois can be a burden, Jackson said. Participating in a graduation ceremony at East Aurora High School has a sentimental factor, Kosak said.
Johnson said the graduation location was a “conundrum.” She said there seems to be interest in the community in bringing graduation back to campus and Northern Illinois is a distance from Aurora, but there could be bad weather and NIU offered a larger space. Ultimately, officials needed to consider community and student input, she said.
“I still think it’s great to have graduation in Aurora,” Johnson said. “You know, it’s a community thing.”
