PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Graduation is supposed to be one of the happiest times for students and parents. But several parents of Nease High School seniors said their children are stuck making a tough call: Attend graduation, or play in a regional baseball game.
Six seniors on the school’s baseball team were supposed to play their big regional game against a team in Pensacola Tuesday night, but the game was postponed to Wednesday -- the same time as graduation.
The St. Johns County School District told News4Jax that it tried to remedy the situation by allowing the students to graduate early at Monday's rehearsal. The only problem was many parents missed that too.
Some family members of the six Nease High seniors said they're frustrated they're forced to choose between seeing their child walk across the stage or play in a major baseball game.
News4Jax spoke by phone with the father of one of the seniors, who did not want to be identified because he doesn't want his son's future to be affected.
"You would think that the district would fight and say, 'This is not right. This isn't something that should be accepted," the father said. "They always preach, "student athlete" -- notice student comes first and then they put a baseball game ahead of one of the most important days of their lives."
The father said the school contacted him on Monday -- just hours before his senior’s graduation rehearsal -- telling him his son could graduate then. But he said that was too short notice.
"And now all the family, grandparents, parents, uncles who have been waiting 13 years to see this don't get to see this," the father said. "Not to mention fathers and mothers who could not get off work with an hour and a half-two hours notice."
The school district officials said, ultimately, the decision to play in the game or walk at graduation is up to the individual families. School district officials said they're willing to have a separate graduation service later for the players, and they offered professional photographers at the graduation rehearsal Monday, when they allowed the players to graduate early.
But the father who News4Jax spoke with said that's not the same.
"It's not graduation. You're not walking that stage with all your peers and all your teachers and fellow graduates and throwing your hat up with them. The whole experience is gone for our senior and for the other five seniors," he said.
The school district said this conflict has happened in the past, but only if the team advances far enough in the regionals.