VENTURA : Graduation May Move to Save Money

Graduation ceremonies for Buena High School may be moved from the campus quad to the football field to save money, Principal Jaime Castellanos said.

Last year, the Ventura Unified School District spent $19,000 on Buena High’s graduation, more than for any other graduation in the district, officials said. An additional $5,000 from the school’s instructional supplies budget was used, Castellanos said. The district wants to “put money back in the hands of teachers,” Castellanos said.

The school board will make the final decision about moving the Buena graduation, Assistant Supt. Joseph Spirito said. This year’s ceremony will take place at the Buena quad as usual, Castellanos said.

To hold the ceremony in the quad, maintenance workers must be paid to set up thousands of chairs and a carpeted stage. But many of the expenses would be eliminated if graduation were held on the football field, officials said.

The ceremony could also take place at the Ventura College gym or at Ventura High School’s Larrabee Stadium, Castellanos said. He said he did not know how much money moving the ceremony to the football field might save.

“It’s hard to say,” Castellanos said. “We would need seating, a sound system, stage, backdrop and flowers” on the athletic field. An average of 5,000 to 6,000 people attend Buena High’s graduation ceremonies each year.

Administrators will also consider charging each graduate $10 to $15, Castellanos said. But there is a question of whether such fees are legal, he said.

Ventura High School spent $4,000 on last year’s graduation at Larrabee Stadium, Spirito said. The cost was less because seating and lighting are already in place at the stadium.