Admin ‘caps’ graduation costs

In order to comply with state law, Principal Eva Mayoral announced in an email that caps and gowns, once required for graduation, will be paid for by the school. At the beginning of this school year, all seniors were required to pay for these items ‘out of pocket’ in order to be able to walk the stage at graduation. According to Mayoral, it will cost approximately $27,000 dollars on an annual basis to comply with the law.According to the California Department of Education (CDE) in a 2013 Addendum to District Superintendents, schools can’t require students to purchase caps or gowns.“A district may not require students to purchase a cap and gown as a condition of participating in the graduation ceremony... the California Supreme Court found that the high school graduation ceremony is ‘an integral part of the educational process’ because it recognizes cu- mulative academic achievement,” the addendum said.The CDE recommended to district officials a plan of action to get in compliance with the law.“(1) the district will provide caps and gowns for graduating seniors for use during the ceremony, and (2) students also have the op- tion to purchase an appropriate cap and gown from a vendor,” the addendum said. “No student should be required to self-identify as indigent in order to receive a cap and gown from the district”.

Although Mayoral knew about the issues with compliance and was working on a solution, she was further prompted to act by an email from ASB student Chris Alba.Mayoral responded to his email and confirmed that the school would pay for the caps and gowns.“I don’t want to be out of compliance with laws and I don’t want to impose costs on kids that we should not be imposing,” Mayoral said.Mayoral, unwilling to cut vital Samo costs, such as the library hours, professional development or after-school tutoring, reached out to the district to pay for the caps and gowns. According to Mayoral, the district will help Samo find a financial solution.“The bottom line of the law is that you can not have a fee for anything. There’s only two ways to solve this: we either say, fund it as a school, which I don’t have the money to do, or we say we’re not doing it anymore. People aren’t happy with either of those. It’s hard, and there’s a real issue,” Mayoral said.