BEREA, Ohio — In an email sent to parents, Berea City School District leaders announced they would change from paper tickets to electronic tickets for its upcoming commencement after reports of counterfeit tickets being produced.
“Because of this, we have been forced to make the decision to move to electronic tickets like we use for our athletic events,” the email added. “This will ensure each student/family gets their allotted tickets.”
“There’s only so many bleachers and parents want to see their children graduate,” parent Greg Cogley said. “As a parent, you’re supposed to be setting yourself up as a role model and that’s not being a role model.”
Each graduating student is entitled to seven tickets, which are all free. A spokesperson said 441 seniors are currently eligible to receive a diploma. If all students utilized their maximum ticket allotment, commencement would involve more than 3,000 in attendance.
To read the full statement from the school district, and to learn about weather contingency plans, click here.
“That added a little bit of stress of making sure we arrived early enough to get our seating in case somebody does the wrong thing,” parent Jenny Cholley said.
In the long term, Cholley told News 5 these tickets will quickly become an afterthought for parents, but in the meantime, it’s just one more hiccup for the class of 2022.
“We’re trying to get tickets to people who may not be tech savvy so that’s a little bit of an added stress for the week when we just want to celebrate our students’ success,” she said.
Commencement is scheduled, weather permitting, for this Thursday at 6 p.m.
