I’m trying to think back to my own graduation 15 years ago. It was held at the high school football field and I think there was a limit of how many people I could attend, something like 5 people (the class was 2000 people (update: 2000 is the total number of students in the school that year)). The Rio Rancho High School graduation is in some controversy due to the 8 person limit imposed when the school moved the ceremony to the Santa Anna Star Center. It was previously held at the “Pit” in Albuquerque.

The Santa Ana Star Center, which opened in November, will hold 5,500 of the graduates’ family and friends, while the The Pit held 11,000 for the ceremony last year, said Bill Duncan, Rio Rancho High activities director.

One thing that is annoying me is the woman I’ve seen on the news several times who complains that she cannot take all 50 of her relatives (she has a blog rioranchogradsunite.blogspot.com) to see her kid graduate. The Albuquerque Tribune says another person is upset because she ordered 40 invitations. Even if it was held at the Pit, there isn’t enough room for every kid to take that many people.

I know this is important to a lot of people and I don’t have a kid who is graduating nor 50 relatives that would come out for it even if I did. It appears that the school is willing to accommodate a reasonable amount of people (this problem isn’t unique to Rio Rancho High School). I feel it’s better to have the graduation in Rio Rancho, where the school is. I also feel that parents should be reasonable.