Some parents at a San Antonio-area high school say they missed one of their children’s biggest milestones after getting trapped in traffic outside a graduation ceremony held just hours before a Spurs playoff game.
Families attending Medina Valley High School’s commencement ceremony Thursday at Freeman Coliseum reported sitting in parking lines for up to an hour as thousands of fans arrived nearby for Game 6 of the Western Conference finals at Frost Bank Center.
Some parents say the delays were so severe that they missed seeing their students walk across the stage.
“Several parents missed their kid walking the stage because the traffic was so bad. It took almost an hour just to turn into the parking lot,” one parent wrote in the Medina Valley High School forum on Facebook. The parent said some family members had traveled from out of town — and even overseas while serving in the military — only to miss the ceremony.
The post quickly struck a nerve, drawing nearly 400 comments and reactions within 13 hours.
Medina Valley ISD’s graduation ceremony began at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Freeman Coliseum, while tipoff for the Spurs game next door at the Frost Bank Center was scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Several parents blamed district leaders for moving the ceremony from its originally scheduled later start time to avoid anticipated playoff traffic, arguing the change failed to prevent the very problem it was meant to solve.
Others questioned why the event was held at Freeman Coliseum rather than on the school’s football field.
It is unclear how many families were affected, but multiple commenters described being stuck in what one called a “non-moving parking lane” while graduates were already inside the venue.
“How they gonna charge us $15 for parking with this clusterf*ck thats happening?? 🫠,” wrote one Facebook user in the fourum.
“Are they EVER gonna let us out of this parking lot,” another chimed in.
Medina Valley ISD Communications Director Selena Viera told MySA that families were notified about the graduation time change one week in advance. She added that parking operations were managed by staff at Freeman Coliseum and Frost Bank Center.
Not everyone blamed the district.
“How was the school to know there would be a Spurs playoff game when they rented the venue months ago,” said Facebook user Holly Hale. “I would have rather get here early and not deal with the headache of trying to get in then be limited to tickets on the football field.”