— Melissa Hale-Spencer

GUILDERLAND — The mother of a Guilderland senior is upset that this year’s graduation ceremony is scheduled on a Sunday morning.
"Christian believers are to worship God on Sunday mornings," writes Veronica Graves of Altamont in a letter to the Enterprise editor this week.

She is urging others to join her in objecting.
"Fellow Christian believers," she writes, "it is time to make a stand. When a once-in-a-lifetime event is scheduled on a Sunday morning and a believer has to decide to obey God or a tradition of man, it is time to let those who made this decision know how you feel about it."

Superintendent Gregory Aidala told The Enterprise this week that the high school’s building cabinet — a body made up of administrators, teachers, other staff, and parents — had discussed the matter at length.

In recent years, Guilderland has held its graduation ceremonies in downtown Albany, in the convention center at the Empire State Plaza.

The district was forced into the Sunday slot, Aidala said, if it wanted to continue to hold the ceremony at the convention center on a weekend.
"There’s a reason Sunday mornings are open," Graves told The Enterprise.

The Graves family attends the Quaker Street Bible Church in Delanson and, through the years, fulfilling their priority of attending Sunday- morning worship has become harder and harder, Graves said.
"They’ve scheduled a 9:30 a.m. baseball game for my son this Sunday," she said, referring to her younger son. "He’ll play half a game and then we’ll go to church."

Her older son, Dan, she said, has been distressed by the Sunday graduation. He will be attending Clarkson University in the fall, with the goal of becoming a civil engineer.
"Graduation is a big thing," said his mother. "It’s once in a lifetime. This is just not right.
"There’s a good chance Dan will miss his graduation. I talked with him about it. He’s willing to not go to his graduation to make a point...I hope we can get this changed before my younger son graduates."

Reason for scheduling
"We typically schedule graduation for the weekend following the conclusion of the Regents," said Aidala, referring to state-set exams.
Until last year, Guilderland had held its graduation ceremony on the weekend following the third week in June, he said. Last year, though, he said, "We switched from the third week to the fourth."

So, in 2004, the ceremony was held on a Sunday for the first time.

The convention center will hold a given spot, such as the third Saturday in June, for a school that has used it the previous year.
"Someone took our Saturday slot; we couldn’t get it back," said Aidala.

The building cabinet then discussed holding the graduation ceremony at other venues, said Aidala, such as Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady, the Palace Theatre in Albany, or the Recreation and Convocation Center at the University at Albany.
"But families and students preferred the convention center, so we accepted the Sunday," said Aidala. "Our highest priority was to maintain the program on the weekend, so friends and family members from out of town can attend."

In previous years, Jewish families have raised concerns about a ceremony on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.
Aidala said, "Concerns have been raised previously by other religious groups," but, he said, the decision to schedule this year’s on Sunday wasn’t by choice but rather because of circumstance.