NY district denies graduation ceremony to homeschooler despite extracurricular participation

The Gloversville Enlarged School District in New York has denied a homeschool student’s request to graduate with its class of 2025, the local CBS affiliate reports.

“Graduation ceremonies at Gloversville High School and public high schools across New York State are intended to recognize students who have completed the specific academic requirements outlined by the New York State Education Department through enrollment in the public-school district,” explained David Halloran, the district’s superintendent.

The district, which serves approximately 2,800 students, had allowed Harmony Jayde Berkowitz-Reyes to participate in extracurricular activities such as prom and homecoming events. 

However, school officials emphasized commencement as “a formal academic milestone that requires full-time enrollment,” according to the CBS affiliate. 

“It definitely makes me feel like there’s not any validation of the work that I have put in, the testing I’ve done, the credits I have earned throughout my high school career,” Berkowitz-Reyes said of the school’s decision. 

‘Completely up to the school’ to determine graduation access 

While an online petition for Berkowitz-Reyes to join Gloversville’s graduation ceremony has generated more than 1,000 signatures, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) warns about the potential legal ramifications of these arguments. 

“Homeschoolers’ public-school participation in events like graduation is completely up to the school,” said HSLDA Senior Counsel Darren Jones. 

State superintendents have no legal basis to approve independent homeschool programs but simply acknowledge the family’s notice of intent, Jones noted. 

“I am glad to see that she has already gotten more access to public schools than many homeschooled students in New York have been allowed,” he said of Berkowitz-Reyes, who withdrew from the district after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Although New York law requires homeschoolers to submit quarterly reports to public-school superintendents, these do not constitute approval, according to Jones. 

As a result, decisions to limit access to graduation ceremonies rest entirely within the school’s jurisdiction. 

“While homeschoolers are free to ask or even push for access,” Jones explained, “they don’t have a right to force the school to make that choice.” 

Halloran emphasized the ineligibility of homeschoolers to be included in the graduating class because they do not receive the high school’s official diploma. 

“Far too many students have been denied the graduation ceremony who came up that Lincoln Street hill year after year,” he told the CBS affiliate. “If we’re going to deny our public-school students who fall just shy of the mark, how can we let somebody in who was never held to the same standards? It’s just not even a real choice for me.”