The Broward School District plans to cut costs by moving some high school graduation ceremonies from performing arts centers and a university arena to school gymnasiums, sparking a backlash among some students and parents.
In most cases, the ceremonies, scheduled to be held May 28 to June 3, will be held in gyms at high schools that are different than the ones from which students are graduating.
Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale will house 13 graduations, Pompano Beach High will house nine and Blanche Ely High in Pompano Beach will house seven, according to a district schedule. These are the only district-owned facilities large enough to house graduations, Valerie Wanza, the district’s chief strategy and innovation officer, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Last year, the ceremonies were held in venues such as the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center and the Rick Case Arena at Nova Southeastern University in Davie. An exception is Pompano Beach High, which has held its own graduation ceremony at the school gym for years.
Eleven of the district’s larger high schools will still hold graduations at non-district venues. The schools with the two largest graduating classes, Cypress Bay High in Weston and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, will be at Hard Rock Live in Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, while nine others will be at the NSU arena.
In response, several students and parents have launched online petitions to try to change the plan.
“The disparity in venue selection sends an unintended message about the value and recognition of students’ efforts based on where they attend school, which is neither just nor reflective of our community’s values,” reads a petition started by Angela Corti, a parent at Cooper City High.
Last year, Cooper City High’s graduation was held at NSU, but this year, it’s scheduled for May 30 at Dillard High.
“The students are very upset about this. My daughter doesn’t even want to walk the stage anymore. This is what we were looking forward to,” Conti told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Some students and parents have also posted on social media or sent emails to School Board members voicing their displeasure.
“Graduation is a once-in-a-lifetime milestone that represents years of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Holding our ceremony in another high school’s gymnasium significantly diminishes the importance and significance of this moment for students and families,” Carly Farah, a graduating senior at Monarch High in Coconut Creek, wrote to board members. “While I understand that the school budget may be lower this year, that should not justify taking away a meaningful tradition that past Monarch seniors were able to experience.”
District officials argue the three district gyms provide top-notch facilities and are well-equipped to provide a momentous experience for graduating classes. Guests will be guaranteed four tickets per graduating senior, the same guarantee as non-district venues, and there will be plenty of parking, Valerie Wanza, the school district’s chief strategy and innovation officer, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Guests at the district sites will sit in individual stadium-style seats and graduates will be positioned on the floor, similar to the NSU venue, district officials said. The basketball goals will be raised to the ceiling, and there will be large screen monitors to spotlight speakers and graduates walking on the stage, they said.
“Regardless of venue, we’re not going to deprive them of the pageantry that this occasion holds,” Wanza said.
The locations were chosen based on the size of the graduating class. Schools with 555 or fewer students were assigned to high school venues, while most with more than 555 went to NSU. But some in Cooper City questioned the cutoff. Cooper City High had 555 seniors as of a September enrollment count and will be at Dillard. Nova High in Davie had 557 seniors in September and will be at NSU. But Cooper City actually posted a slightly higher graduation rate last year, so it’s unclear which graduating class will be larger.
Because the NSU arena is a much larger venue than Dillard, Nova students will likely be able get at least two more tickets per graduate than Cooper City students.
Dillard High School gymnasium on Thursday, January 15, 2026. Broward County Public Schools plan on moving many graduations from outside venues like Nova Southeastern University and Lauderdale Performing Arts center to high school gymnasiums.(Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
“It’s not fair. They’re not doing it right,” Corti told the Sun Sentinel.
School Board members overwhelmingly agreed during an Oct. 21 budget workshop to use district facilities for graduations whenever possible as a cost-saving measure. The change was projected to save about $500,000 per year, Wanza told the School Board.
“I think we have the facilities here to house these, and I think it’s a good idea to utilize those facilities,” Board member Adam Cervera said at the meeting.
But since the workshop, the district has faced allegations of wasteful spending, including a $510,000-a-year office lease that the School Board is trying to get out of, as well as a combined $500,000 in referendum-funded bonuses for the highest-paid employees, which the School Board voted this month to end.
The School Board is also in the middle of contentious labor negotiations as well as a plan to close schools, leading critics to question the district’s priorities. Some say graduations are not the place to cut costs.
“They want to fill empty school seats, but this action will only drive more students and families away,” said Marie Nanni, who has a 12th-grade son at McFatter Technical High in Davie, which will use Pompano Beach High’s gym.
Dee Defoe has a daughter at Fort Lauderdale High who is scheduled to graduate at Dillard.
“Students and parents put their blood, sweat and tears to get to this milestone,” said Defoe, who is vice chair of the District Advisory Group, which makes recommendations to the School Board. “Now, when there’s mismanagement or financial problems, it’s the children who suffer.”
After hearing complaints from constituents, Cervera told the Sun Sentinel he concluded the graduation venue decision was made without enough community input. He asked district staff on Thursday if he could bring an item to Wednesday’s School Board meeting to revisit the locations. However, since the agenda had already been published, the item could only be added with the approval of School Board Chairwoman Sarah Leonardi, he said. Leonardi decided against adding it.
“The superintendent is going to address it at the beginning of the meeting,” Leonardi told the Sun Sentinel. “And the submission is late.”
Cervera, an appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the sole Republican on the board, told the Sun Sentinel he made the request the next morning after a district memo announcing the graduation venues went out.
“I don’t know what to say other than I’m disappointed,” he said. “I think we’re effectively silencing the will of the people, and I think it’s very unfortunate. I’m saddened by this decision.”
Leonardi told the Sun Sentinel the direction to district staff on graduation venues was given in a public meeting months ago.
“People are still going to get to graduate in a beautiful facility,” she said. “People are always going to have critical opinions about however we decide to cut costs. But I don’t recall there being any board objection when this was brought to us.”
Board member Debbi Hixon said she doesn’t have strong feelings about where the graduations are held and is willing to discuss options. She said she found some complaints troubling, such as that Dillard isn’t an A-rated school or it’s in a low-income neighborhood where there could be crime.
“That’s not fair at all,” she said of the complaints.
Board member Rebecca Thompson, an early proponent of using high school gyms, said she isn’t interested in revisiting the issue and said she doubts there is enough time logistically.
“As far as prestige and the event being everything parents wanted to be, I have no doubt that we’re going to be able to pull that off,” she said