Diplomas to be presented this week at five area high schools
Approximately 200 students will receive diplomas this week at graduation ceremonies throughout the San Juan School District. Many students are hard at work finalizing their school work in anticipation of receiving a diploma.
In addition to services at the five high schools, commencement services will also be held at elementary and middle schools.
Graduation at Monticello High School will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, in the high school auditorium. Thirty-eight students will be graduating, led by valedictorian McKade Maloy and salutatorian Mary Beh. Joshua Keyes will be the guest speaker. Photos of the graduates are on page 7 of this newspaper.
A total of 92 graduates will receive diplomas at the San Juan High School graduation, which begins at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 21 in the high school auditorium. Steve Hiatt will be the guest speaker. The students, including a large group of summa cum laude graduates, are led by class president Carsyn Endres. Photos of the graduates are on pages 4-5 of this newspaper.
Monument Valley High School will present diplomas to 27 graduates in ceremonies that will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 22. Two Co-Valedictorians, Melanie James and Caitlyn Black, will be honored, along with class president Eric Bitsinnie. The guest speaker will be Jonathan Nez, the newly elected vice president of the Navajo Nation.
The graduating class at Navajo Mountain High School includes five students. They received their diplomas on Monday, May 18.
Whitehorse High School graduation will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 23 in the high school gymnasium. Daivik Mitchell is the class president.
In other school news, the San Juan School District approved a four percent pay raise for district employees.
Officials say the pay raise, the largest in nearly ten years, was made possible, in part, by a relatively small increase in health care and retirement costs.
The compensation package, approved at the May 12 meeting of the school board, totals 6.38 percent and includes modest changes in health care, retirement and funds steps and lane changes.
The board discussed the budget, particularly related to an estimated $176 million decrease in the tax base. Revenue cuts from the decrease will be tempered, in part, by increased funding from the state legislature and an “equalization” adjustment at the state level.