The Butler Area School District is making some changes to their annual commencement ceremony.
District administrators notified the school board of their plans Monday night. The changes include that all students will now wear gold caps and gowns instead of boys wearing gold and girls wearing white.
Officials say this will help avoid any potential issues regarding gender identity.
In a memo sent to the school board and administrators, Butler Senior High School Principal John Wyllie, said, “It is easily foreseeable that we will have transgender students whose biological and psychological identities do not match, resulting in potential requests to wear the color of the opposite gender we would normally assign.”
Wyllie also noted that the school has already become flexible regarding outfits worn beneath the gowns.
“Moving to all gold prevents a public issue being made before it happens,” he wrote.
Also, officials suggested giving all students four tickets to the graduation ceremony. In the past, if the ceremony was indoors, each graduate got two tickets for family members unless they were an ‘Honors with Distinction’ student. More seats in the school’s gymnasium and smaller graduating classes allow for more room inside.
Finally, administrators would like students to walk across a stage and be handed a diploma cover by officials so families have a chance to take a photo. That has never been included in Butler’s ceremony.