Families demand answers about EPHS graduation ceremony problems, share complaints at listening session

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify one attendee’s remarks to reflect that during the listening session, she said the use of noisemakers at the graduation ceremony was wrong. It also clarifies any possible implication that she said noisemakers were culturally important to the Somali community’s celebrations.  

More than 30 Eden Prairie High School parents and guardians attended a short-notice listening session at 6 p.m. Monday, June 10, to share feedback about the Class of 2024 graduation ceremony.

Over the past few days, many of the graduates’ families have been vocal on social media and with the school district about their unhappiness over how challenges at the event were handled. Some said they felt unsafe during and after the ceremony. Many said they were unable to hear their students’ names read, due to excessive noise.

When the district learned that many parents and guardians intended to come to the monthly board workshop meeting on June 10 to share their complaints, they set up a listening session for the same time that evening. The reason given was that this was a workshop, and only school board business meetings allow public comment.

They also said that graduation was not on the agenda, although it was briefly discussed at the end of the board workshop.

In an email sent to families on the afternoon of June 10, Superintendent Josh Swanson said, “Unfortunately, as proud as we are of our graduates and the example they set Friday night, we know there were factors that negatively impacted the experience for our families – including, but not limited to, poor sound quality and the behavior of some attendees. As superintendent, I want to apologize for the impact this had on families’ experiences.”
 
He added, “Since Friday, we have been evaluating what went well and where there was room for improvement, both in things we could control and things outside of our control. As part of this evaluation and future-planning process, we want to hear from those directly affected, and we know some members of our community also want to make their voices heard about the ceremony.”

The district also invited families to share feedback online about the event at this link.

The listening session discussion centered on some attendees’ loud celebrations with contraband noisemakers, continuous talking by a large portion of the audience, and disruptions and fights after the ceremony, which was held June 7 at the University of Minnesota’s 3M Arena at Mariucci. It also focused heavily on general behavioral issues at the high school, which parents said were reflected in the general behavior at graduation.

Graduation marred by noise, behavior issues, fights

The graduation ceremony began about 20 minutes late, with graduates beginning to walk alphabetically into the arena at 7:10 p.m. Welcomes and speeches began soon after, with the EPHS principals, superintendents, school board, and other speakers seated on stage.

It quickly became clear that many attendees were not listening or remaining quiet. From the start to the end of the event, a large number of adults and younger attendees openly talked throughout the speeches and music performances from the band and choir, making it difficult for others to hear.

The sound system appeared to have technical issues, further compromising audibility.

Additionally, at no time did any of the school district administration ask the crowd to quiet down. When EPHS Principal Nate Gibbs began reading names, he did not ask families to remain quiet or refrain from cheering so that each student’s name could be heard as they crossed the stage to receive their diploma. However, this request was clearly noted in the program and had been displayed earlier on the Jumbotron.

While most students’ names were met with silence, scattered quiet cheers, or polite applause, some large groups of attendees clustered together cheered loudly and enthusiastically for their graduates.

Some of the applause continued for an extended time, and some attendees also broke venue policy by bringing in contraband noisemakers.

Attendees had been explicitly warned ahead of time that they were not permitted to bring or use noisemakers, including air horns, per both school district and Mariucci policy. However, some people brought in air horns, alarm bells, sirens, and other devices capable of making extremely loud noises, despite security officers checking bags for such items at the venue entrance.

At one point early in the ceremony, a large group set off air horns and confetti cannons when a student’s name was read, as well as a loud, ringing alarm-style bell. It appeared that they retained these or more duplicate items throughout the event. Other groups throughout the stadium also set off loud noisemakers at regular intervals. Uniformed police came down to confiscate some items, but the groups soon produced more.

After the ceremony, many families rushed down onto the arena floor, despite being told in multiple school communications, the ceremony program, and on the Jumbotron that this was prohibited for liability reasons.

After the event, a packed crowd of attendees also congregated outside. At one point, a large fight reportedly broke out, with some reported injuries, including to an 80-year-old grandmother of a student who had inadvertently been physically drawn into the fight.

Listening session attendees expressed anger, frustration, called for change

The listening session took place in the high school auditorium at 6 p.m. on Monday. Despite having only 2.5 hours’ notice, about 35 parents attended.

EP Schools staff present at the session had helped plan the graduation ceremony. These were Dirk Tedmon, EP Schools’ executive director of marketing and communications; Grace Becker, director of marketing and communications; Tamiko Thomas, EPHS associate principal; Thomas May, executive director of human resources; and Lauren Algyer, emergency management coordinator.

Jaysen Anderson, who will take over from Nate Gibbs as EPHS principal but has not yet started his job or attended graduation, was also present.

The listening session began with Tedmon saying he had three goals for the evening: to begin rebuilding trust with the community, to gather feedback, and to discuss how graduation could be improved in the future. He acknowledged the diversity of the district, which included diversity in how people celebrate and engage with others. He also talked about the district’s strategic plan and laid out parameters for the discussion.

However, Tedmon’s proposal to form small breakout groups to discuss issues and then report back to the larger group was quickly rejected by attendees. Some accused the district of trying to “divide and silence” them, stating they were not there to “workshop” for the district and that they preferred a large group discussion.

Attendees also demanded to know why Superintendent Swanson, who had invited them to the listening session, was not present. When told he was at a board meeting, they wanted to know why the listening session was not scheduled for a time when he and school board members could attend.

Attendees said they have noticed behavior at graduation ceremonies deteriorating over the past few years, but have never seen it to this extent. Some of the key themes in the conversations that followed over the next hour and a half were:

• Attendees asked why nobody from the administration seated on the stage – which included the superintendent, two associate superintendents, six members of the school board, the high school principal and three associate principals – requested that the crowd stop talking and using loud noisemakers.
• Attendees connected the general graduation atmosphere with the general school atmosphere. They said they felt the graduation ceremony environment was a result of not creating a better school environment. Some parents claimed that when they talked about the night and their safety concerns with their students, their students replied that this is how they feel at school all the time. One attendee said that safety was everyone’s concern.
• Attendees said their anger wasn’t just about poor graduation behavior but also about school behavior standards. They cited stories about disrespectful behavior, fights, swearing, and drugs being used and sold in EPHS bathrooms. They also said there needed to be more accountability. Multiple parents said that if the district did not come up with a clear and convincing plan to address both next year’s graduation and behavior issues at the school, they planned to remove their children from the district.
• Attendees asked why there was not better security outside the event, and reported that this created an extremely unsafe environment. One attendee said her elderly family member was drawn into the fight, receiving some injuries and barely escaping worse harm.
• Attendees wanted to know how Mariucci’s security officers allowed contraband items into the arena despite policies prohibiting them and wanted the venue held accountable for this.
• Attendees expressed that they and their family members were highly stressed by the loud noises. They also noted that the noise was particularly stressful for special needs attendees, including graduating students, and those sensitive to loud noise.

The discussion also addressed that it appeared that most of the event attendees who were using the noisemakers and doing much of the extended cheering were members of the Somali community, and questioned why that choice was made. 

One attendee said that she did not defend the use of the noisemakers and that bringing those in against arena policy was wrong. She said however that it was culturally important to the Somali community to celebrate their graduates with extended applause and cheering. She said that because some of their students were first-generation graduates, this ceremony was extremely meaningful to them, and that it was entitled of other community members to suggest they should have been quieter.

Other attendees responded that the entitlement was the other way around and that being a first-generation graduate did not invalidate other students’ accomplishments. They added that this was not a racial issue but a behavioral one, as it was not fair for anyone to make so much noise that other students’ names could not be heard.

At times, the discussions devolved into attendees interrupting and shouting at each other, and Anderson stepped in multiple times to mediate and redirect the discussion.

Anderson said that as the incoming EPHS principal, he would need time to build trust and learn, but that he fully intended to be held accountable starting on day one of his tenure. He also promised to build a safe, respectful, and peaceful environment at EPHS and at future graduation ceremonies.

He added that the listening session would not be able to resolve societal issues, but they could and would tackle tangible school issues. He said it would take time to work toward other solutions as a community.

Multiple parents thanked Anderson for not only attending the listening session but also actively participating in the discussion, despite his not officially starting his new job as EPHS principal until July 1.

The session ended after over one hour and forty minutes of discussion. Although attendees requested further discussion with the school board and superintendent, the staff running the meeting did not share any plans for this. However, some attendees noted that they planned to attend the June 24 school board business meeting and share their feedback during public comment.

School board addressed graduation, requested answers

While graduation was not on the agenda of the June 10 school board workshop, board members discussed it, primarily at the end of the meeting.

Board member Charles “CJ” Strehl thanked Swanson for setting up the listening session but said he wanted to set a firm date for Swanson to debrief the board on what went wrong and to present his logistical plan for making the Class of 2025 graduation a more positive experience.

Swanson acknowledged that “we’ve got some work to do, and my note to the community here, I apologize for some things that were in our control and some that weren’t.” He said his team would create a report about this.

Strehl asked Swanson to give the board a firm date to present this report, since it was important to the community to have answers and see a firm plan for improvement, including eighth graders considering whether they should attend EPHS.

Swanson said that discussions around graduation planning usually did not begin until “late fall or early winter.” Board chair Aaron Casper said he would put discussing this on a future meeting agenda.