At its graduation ceremony next week, the ConVal School District will recognize a member of the senior class who died in a car accident in September, stepping back from a previous policy of not doing so and acceding to the wishes of the student’s family and at least 1,400 other people in the community.

In September, ConVal senior Damien Cronan, 17, of Antrim, died in a car accident in Dublin, and as the school year unfolded, his family expressed hopes that he would be recognized posthumously at graduation on June 14 with a diploma. A district Student Memorization Policy does not allow for diplomas to be awarded in such cases, and at Tuesday’s School Board meeting, Superintendent Ann Forrest recommended that the board rescind this policy.

Cronan’s family had been pushing for recognition of Damien’s life at graduation for months, supported by an online petition with 1,421 signatures calling for this posthumous gesture and the current policy’s repeal. James Roberg, Damien’s stepfather, in remarks prepared prior to Forrest’s announcement, spoke of the pain that this policy was inflicting, compounding the family’s loss.

“How do we honor a child who is taken too soon, and what happens if we don’t?. We’re not seeking special treatment, just some human dignity,” said Roberg, explaining that “What deepened (the pain of this loss) was having to fight for the most basic remembrance from a school that was supposed to know him, care about him and honor his life.” 

Roberg asked whether, in hypothetical cases of multiple deaths as a result of a bus accident as one example, the district would withhold the names of seniors from graduation.

“We need a clear and compassionate, family centered memorial policy, one that says that when a student dies, we will honor their life… (with) respectful acknowledgment at graduation,” he said, citing several states, including Texas, Massachusetts and North Carolina, that accommodate various forms of recognizing students who have died prior to graduation. 

“I’m here for every family that may experience unimaginable loss. No parent should have to advocate for a child’s memory when mourning that child,” Roberg said. “Honoring Damien speaks volumes about us as a community.”

Temple School Board representative Jim Kingston spoke to one form of reasoning that likely informed the existing policy.

“The policy was not crafted with enough of an eye toward what parents might desire, but with rather a concern of opening old wounds,” he said, adding that the board’s Policy Committee will approach revisiting of the policy with “more emphasis on what the families desire, and how their rights can be upheld.”

Board Chair Mike Hoyt of Bennington said that policies such as the one in question can look one way on paper, and that “We do a lot of research on policies, but until the policy goes into effect, we don’t know how they’re going to come out.”  

The board voted unanimously to rescind the district’s Student Memorization Policy and send it back to the Policy Committee for work. 

Prior to Roberg’s remarks, Forrest noted that her office had received “a lot of thoughtful feedback” on the matter, and she announced a number of ways that Damien will be remembered and honored over the next two weeks. They include a time during the senior picnic at which Damien’s friends will be encouraged to speak about him, after which butterflies will be released. A chair at graduation that will have flowers placed on it, and there will be a moment of silence at the ceremony, along with an honorary diploma. The yearbook will also have a memorial page, and a copy will be given to Damien’s family members. 

Following the board meeting, Felicia Roberg, Damien’s mother, said that the concern of opening old wounds was not a sound reason for a policy of not memorializing a departed student. “You’re not reminding me that I lost him,” she said. 

Outside the board’s meeting room, James Roberg said that the push for a change of the policy will hopefully mean that other families dealing with loss will not have to navigate a bureaucracy to have a loved one remembered. He also had a suggestion as the Policy Committee revisits the matter.

“They should speak to a family who has experienced tragedy as they redo the policy,”  he said.