Mars Area approves new graduation location, appoints board member
ADAMS TWP — After graduation ceremonies were held in the high school’s parking lots during the COVID-19 pandemic, future Mars Area High School graduates will walk to “Pomp and Circumstance” at the Mars Athletic Complex, the school board decided at a meeting Tuesday, Jan. 9.
The school board voted 7-2 for the switch in location, with board directors Anthony DePretis and Kevin Hagen opposing the decision.
Graduation was last held in the athletic complex in 2004, Hagen said after the meeting, and before the pandemic, it was held in the high school auditorium, which poses a challenge to large class sizes.
Prior to voting, DePretis said he wished the board would have received more student input on the matter.
“That was at the request of leadership at the high school, who asked not to provide (additional surveys),” board director Jennifer DiCuccio said.
“I don’t feel it’s fair that the decision for the students who are graduating in the spring or the summer be made by people who previously graduated ... because it’s not their graduation,” she said.
Board director Lee Anne Riner, who voted in favor of the change in location due to “space, safety and aesthetics,” suggested the graduation committee look at ways to incorporate “whatever made the parking lots special and memorable” into the new graduations held at the athletic complex.
Additionally, the board appointed Dan Long of Adams Township to replace Nicole Thurner, whose resignation as a result of relocating was approved Tuesday evening.
Thurner took her seat on the school board in December 2021. Her term expires in December 2025. On Tuesday evening, fellow members recognized Thurner for her time on the school board.
Anticipating a vacant seat with Thurner’s resignation, the board considered 14 candidates for the position, president John Kennedy said.
Long, who was welcomed to the board, has four children in the school district and serves on the Comprehensive Planning Community Action Committee.
DiCuccio said she hopes to see the other 13 candidates run for school board in the next two years.
