UPDATE!  School district sort of reverses course...The family can now walk across the stage after the graduation, but can't speak on her behalf.  
No word if they will add her name back to the list of graduates either.  Seems like the school can't admit they were wrong and actually do the right thing the way it should be done. The school district higher up's still don't get it IMHO
https://www.firescalaf.cat/2024/05/16/flafca/Lry25E8595719NmU/


AMERICAN FORK, Utah — After enormous public outcry, the Alpine School District has changed a policy that would have prevented an American Fork family from they are going to the graduation ceremony in place of their daughter who recently died.

Samantha Corey died in January of a rare cancer, months before her senior year at American Fork High School.
The Corey family had hoped that Samantha’s siblings would wear their sister’s cap and gown at next week’s graduation ceremony and accept her diploma.

School district officials warned the family, however, that they would not be able to speak on Samantha’s behalf, saying the ceremony plans “reflect our sincere desire to appropriately balance the need to remember the dead and the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of all graduates.” “
On Wednesday, days after denying the Corey family a chance to honor their daughter and sister, Superintendent Shane Farnsworth of the Alpine School District reversed his decision.

In a message to the Millie’s Princess Foundation, a Utah-based childhood cancer organization, Farnsworth said the district had granted an exception to American Fork High School Principal Peter Glahn’s request to allow Corey’s family to walk after graduation.

On Wednesday, the district released a statement acknowledging the reversal and the process Glahn used to request the exception.

“Samantha was loved by her classmates, teachers and school staff. She will be recognized at her graduation ceremony,” the district said. “We look forward to celebrating the achievements of Samantha and all of our other extraordinary students who have achieved so much.”

*************

School district REMOVES girl's name from graduation book after she died of cancer weeks earlier despite completing all requirements: Bosses refuse to let siblings attend ceremony

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13421277/school-district-removes-graduation-book-died-cancer.html?openWebLoggedIn=true&login
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/family-not-allowed-to-walk-at-graduation-for-teen-who-died-of-cancer
https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/deceased-girl-will-not-be-recognized-during-graduation-ceremony-due-district-policy/GR75QZLQM5C5BGTR5AT54YXLZ4/
https://kutv.com/news/education/alpine-school-district-not-recognizing-deceased-student-at-graduation-due-to-policy-samantha-corey-kimberly-american-fork-high-school-commencement
https://www.msn.com/en-ie/health/other/fury-as-school-district-removes-dead-girl-s-name-from-graduation-book/ar-BB1mruhL

A Utah school has sparked fury after removing the name of a student who died of cancer just months before graduation - despite completing all requirements.
Samantha Corey, who was battling a rare and terminal form of the disease, passed away before she could finish her senior year at American Fork High School.
As Samantha's siblings prepared to stand in her place, they were told by the district they wouldn't be permitted. Her name was also omitted from the ceremony.

'It wasn't like we were wanting special treatment for her,' Kimberly Corey, Samantha's mother, said to FOX13. 'I just think we didn't want her to be deleted out of it, so it felt like, this is how it was supposed to be, and then they deleted her name and took it.'

Samantha's family was distraught hearing the news, specially because Samantha had completed all of her graduation requirements before her death.
'We just would have liked to have her name be read, and her siblings wanted to walk across the stage for her. Her brother wanted to wear her hat,' Kimberly Corey said to KUTV. 'We weren't expecting a big to-do; we just don't want her to be deleted, you know.'
Samantha's journey with cancer began during her sophomore year, but she was determined to continue her education at American Fork High School during chemotherapy treatments.
'When you're a terminal cancer patient, you know that's not a priority,' Kimberly Corey said to KUTV. 'She wanted to be in school as much as she could, and this high school has been so good to her.'
'She was such a light,' she said. 'When we were looking at a timeline with her lifespan, our goal with her medical team was to be able to get her healthy enough to be able to last as long as graduation. She was just three months short.'

Samantha died in January 2024 at 18-years-old.

Rich Stowell, of the Alpine School District, issued a statement explaining their stance on graduation memorials, emphasizing a balance between honoring the deceased and celebrating the achievements of all graduates.
'As students across Alpine School District celebrate graduation from high school, we are mindful that some students tragically pass before they and their families get to experience that milestone.

'Plans for graduation ceremonies are guided by district policy. Decisions about specific plans reflect our sincere desire to appropriately balance the need to remember those who have passed and the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishment of all graduates.'
'We realize that not allowing for certain types of memorials during graduation ceremonies may cause additional pain for those closest to students who have passed,' he continued.
'Our school administrators have the difficult responsibility of leading with compassion and empathy to help their school community process loss within the guidelines of policy.'




In case you're wondering who to contact regarding this:


Alpine School District board member whose area includes American Fork High School:

That’s heartbreaking just to read.

That administrator's comments didn't give much of a reason. Seems like a very stupid hill for the district to die upon. No benefit whatsoever and tons of bad press and anger.

ETA: lots of "Doctors"on that group. Dr. Jill Biden would be so proud

Not one student or parent should attend in protest
Fuck is wrong with these people

This is worthy of a campus protest. They should absolutely let her parents accept her diploma.

I wouldn't have walked the parents in lieu of the student.  But I sure as shooting would have made sure the parents were recognized.  Some times it's better to be kind than to be right.

What's Kimberly Bird's number.

I can change her.

I can sympathize... but
some students missed their HS grad b/c of covid and then also missed their college grad cancellation due to fear of palestian protest.
What about them?

But if she completed the requirements she probably  should be honored.  There's a reason they're called American Farkers.
off shoots of the Spanish Farkers

Love it when these assholes cite policy but then don’t cite the policy.

Oh, I see...it is district policy to be a giant douche.

That is morally wrong

Edit* I'm also frustrated for the other graduates that just want to walk and not have this controversy tied to their day. The collateral damage of this decision impacts more than 1 family

A lot of administration Karen’s are about to find out that it means to be very unpopular.

BS reasons to do what they did............if they want to honor all graduates, then wait till the end of the ceremony and invite the parents up on stage and present them with her diploma. It wouldn't cost them a thing and i am sure the other students and parents wouldn't mind it at all.............otherwise everyone should boycott the whole thing and leave them standing on the stage by themselves

Hell be upon that board

Key word - after reading the title the first thing I thought of was that this was a school run by "educators" and "administrators" instead of teachers.

In any town worth a damn she would have a good chance of being elected homecoming queen and having the prom and/or graduation ceremony dedicated in her honor.

WTH is wrong with people.

Rotten pollen has my eyes watering now...

There's no but to it.... This is just plain wrong.  If she satisfied the requirement, her parents should be able to receive her diploma in her honor.  Anything short of that is just sickening.

that is fucking cold, i bet if it was a DEI LGBTWTFBBQ student it won't be a problem.

What a bunch of assholes

Yeah, that is kind of stupid.

When I was in HS, we had a few Seniors that technically would not graduate at the end of the school year and would need Summer school to make it up. The school still let them attend the graduation ceremony but they got a empty diploma folder. So long as they made it up in Summer school, they were still considered part of that year's graduation class.

Human moral decency is about gone in America. May that board or whatever the hell they call themselves feel the fires of hades.

Couple of things. 1. The family wants siblings, plural, to walk the stage. How about pick one.
2. The school wants to "celebrate the achievement of all students". Wasn't the deceased a student? Can't the living graduates handle acknowledging a deceased classmate?
This seems like a really bad PR disaster for the school. The board didn't think this through unless there's another motive.

Utah....

Posthumus awards are given to surviving family members all the time.

Its like the district met and said, "what's the worst way we can handle this situation."

There is no leadership more inept, power crazed, or heartless than that of our school systems I have found.

Cunts, all of them.

Sounds like they didn’t want this devolving into a memorial ceremony/circus spectacle for the dead kid.  

If she completed the requirements list her as a graduate and leave a chair empty in her honor…thats all.

Bizarre decision.

It's just a little HS graduation ceremony. How would including that poor girl's family harm anything?

This is another reason why the whole concept of the zero tolerance policies are bullshit.  

Awful lot of people to handle the school too. I'd guess they could chop some of those jobs off and not miss a beat.

Agreed, either recognize the girl at the beginning or the end would be appropriate but to read her name in middle of all the other names would be a bit too much to not have her walk across. . I can see not having that pang inducing moment but reading her name in memoriam as a recognition of her work and a tribute.

Poor family, with all they have been through how hard is it to show some compassion.

This, hopefully her friends and others protest  this and shame the administration into having this.  Where are the local reporters and actual journalists and  local politicians that actually care about issues.

If I were the parents I would line up anyhow and make them throw me out.

This is cold hearted and pisses me off to tears!

That's a pretty stupid and shameful "policy".

They didn't even try.

who would protest this cancer victim's family's participation?  Really!

No, they should all attend. Then get up and walk out before the graduation ceremony begins.

This could have been handled gracefully and without drama.

Siblings walking for her in graduation attire? That’s a bit much.

She met all graduation requirements. Read her name and maybe comment that she succeeded even though she wasn’t there to celebrate with her class. You could even do something like have an additional decorative ribbon of her favorite color tied around the diploma.

That doesn’t turn the graduation into her memorial service, and it fulfills the mission of celebrating all graduates including her.

Also remind the parents they need to continue to pay their “fair share” of the school tax on their property.

I think this situation is heartbreaking and completely uncalled for; however, there's a lot of the highlighted stuff going around. Something bad happened to people during Covid and it's gotten worse since then.

Found the policy in another article:

“Policy 1300t provides guidelines for how to remember students who have passed. It includes the following provisions:

Schools, staff members, or students should not feel obliged or pressured to participate in any of the acceptable memorials or

Best practices include ideas that are temporary, typically occurring within one week of the death of the student or staff member."

So, the family’s request is only arguably against “best practice” since it is more than a week since her passing. The admin made a judgement call and are hiding behind a vague policy.

my good friend died in a car accident in college and they let his parents and brother accept the degree on stage.  They just did it along with all the other students and in no way did it diminish everyone else's accomplishments.  It was a very nice gesture that made everyone feel like he made it through with us.

This school's answer didn't even make sense.  Par for the course with "school administration" people.

I bet that school would have offered an honorary diploma to someone of a different demographic.

I bet this poor girl's family was not of the correct political affiliation.  

A graduation shouldn't devolve into a funeral, or it changes the tone for the living. There is often a kid who doesn't live to walk. I assume the school honored this student at the time of death and at her funeral. That would be the appropriate time to stop, reflect on that student, and maybe do some memorial event just for her. Graduation is different. I can see not having placeholders for the dead at graduation.

They also don't hold weddings for brides who die before the event, using stand-ins.
They cancel it and have a funeral. The cousin doesn't go on the honeymoon carrying her photo.

But they should have left her name among members of the class and given her diploma to her family separately. She earned her diploma, it would seem.
To erase her is next level stupid.

That's some pretty bad optics.

That’s shitty

The parents are probably smart enough to know that property taxes are not based on number of children.

It's not politics that drives things around here.

Fucking deleted her name off the program!?!? What cunt lick thought that was a good idea? They should've:

1. Left an open seat with a tasseled grad cap on it where she would've been seated
2. Had 1 person accept her diploma on her behalf with an announcement of why said person was accepting her diploma

Pretty fucking easy and simple accommodations.

Well, they probably haven't also died of cancer, so they have that going for them.

Who said it had "devolve into a funeral"?    They could have just read her name, like everyone else's.  It's quite common.

It’s the whole world really, lots of countries have fallen from grace.  Cold, uncaring people are everywhere.  If god exists, he won’t let things go on this way much longer.

This.  It is what they did when a classmate of my older brother dropped dead in the middle of a basketball game.

There would have been a mass protest at my kid's school.

Hell, you should have seen what they did when the super disciplined two football players for carrying a flag.

This UT board demonstrates typical elitist behavior. I hope the students do something.