(CNN) — A small high school in rural Texas decided to postpone its graduation ceremony after an end-of-year review revealed that only five of the school’s 33 seniors had met graduation requirements, according to the superintendent. of the school district.
“Marlin High School announced that the high school graduation will be rescheduled for June,” the Marlin Independent School District said in a letter posted on Facebook. “The high school’s decision to postpone graduation will provide more time for students to meet the necessary graduation requirements.”
Many students at the school, which is about 28 miles southeast of Waco, “did not meet the requirements due to attendance or grades,” the letter said.
The school district added in the notice that it has “affirmed its commitment to provide necessary resources and support to students.”
Superintendent Darryl Henson called a mandatory meeting for parents of seniors last week.
“The state of Texas has guidelines for graduation,” Henson said at Wednesday’s meeting. “This is not a dance floor (…). This is a graduation.”
After students worked this week to make up class time and homework, 17 more young people became eligible for graduation in June, according to Henson.
The community planned an informal graduation ceremony to celebrate the seniors at a church on Thursday, the day the students were originally due to graduate, according to CNN affiliate KWTX. Some family members flew in from as far away as Mexico for the canceled graduation and would not be able to make a second trip for the rescheduled ceremony in June, KWTX reported.
According to the Marlin Texas High School Report Card, 98.7% of the school’s students come from an economically disadvantaged background. A total of 229 students were enrolled in the school in the 2021-2022 school year.
The Marlin Independent School District serves 880 students in Marlin, Texas, along the Brazos River.
