After a video was posted to TikTok claiming that Bryant School District would not be allowing a student who drove their own vehicle to graduation practice participate in Saturday’s graduation ceremony, the district released a statement responding to the incident.
The video shows Bryant High School Principal Todd Edwards explaining to a frustrated individual why a student wouldn’t be able to walk at graduation. According to Devin Sherill, Director of Communications for Bryant School District, as principal Edwards is in charge of graduation.
The Bryant Public Schools secondary handbook states that students “who do not ride the bus to and from graduation practice will not be allowed to participate in graduation without prior approval from the principal,” according to the statement issued Thursday by Sherrill.
According to the press release, the policy was put in place over 10 years ago due to several students having automobile accidents on the way to graduation practice.
“The reason for this requirement not only has to do with student safety (over 600 students driving to and from Little Rock) but also the need to adequately prepare for a dignified graduation ceremony involving a large number of students and the many logistics involved with that process,” the press release states.
Bryant School District’s graduation is held at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
“Only one student came directly to the venue without having prior approval to do so. No other student eligible for graduation, or who chose to participate in the graduation ceremony, missed the bus for graduation practice without having prior approval for alternate arrangements. Any allegation that similarly situated students were treaded differently is completely false,” the release states.
“We understand the importance of graduation ceremonies to students and their families. We have reached out to the student, who is now an adult, for further explanation of why the student did not, or was unable to, meet this requirement or seek prior approval from the principal to make alternate arrangements.
“We ask parents, guardians and members of the Bryant community to remember that social media may not always contain correct, accurate or truthful information,” the release stated. “Bryant Public Schools always wants to communicate with parents and the community. In matters of student concern, the specifics of those communications must, by law, be between the district and the student’s parents or guardians, or with the student if 18 or older.”
