The Elk Grove Unified School District’s Board of Education recognizes that the diversity of our school communities enriches our schools, strengthens our students’ educational experience, and helps to prepare them as global citizens.  In order to acknowledge this diversity and support students’ desire to demonstrate their individuality and personal expression, the Board of Education has authorized students’ limited self-expression at high school graduation ceremonies.

 

Any student participating in his/her high school graduation ceremony may wear one single item of personal significance and/or individual expression during the ceremony.  This item may represent the student’s academic or extra-curricular participation and/or achievement in school or the student’s personal characteristics of ethnicity, culture, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, nationality, race, color, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, or military service.  

 

Any such expression must meet certain criteria, however, outlined as follows:

 

 

Consistent with Elk Grove Administrative Regulation 5127 and Board Policy 5145.2, the school site and/or district-level administration may prohibit at graduation ceremonies any item of personal significance and/or individualized expression that:

 

All items of personal significance and/or individual expression must be pre-approved by the school site principal or his/her designee.  Upon approval from the site principal or designee, students will receive a confirmation of approval.  Students must bring this confirmation to the graduation ceremony and have it available to present to site or district staff as verification of pre-approval.  Please know that students who fail to have in their possession at the graduation ceremony evidence of pre-approval may be prohibited from wearing their item before and during the ceremony, including during the recessional at the end of the ceremony.

 

Should a student’s item not be approved, he/she will have the opportunity to appeal the denial and/or present an alternative item for approval prior to the graduation ceremony and in accordance with the district’s timeline.  The immediate appeal shall be made to the school site principal.  A meeting between the student and principal may be necessary.   Should the denial be upheld by the principal, a subsequent appeal may be directed to appropriate district-level personnel.

 

If a student’s single item is not approved by the site principal or his/her designee during either the advance approval or appeal process, the student may be prohibited from wearing the item before and during the ceremony, including during the recessional.