Dearborn Center For Math, Science and Technology - Controversy

Controversy

In the school year of 2005-2006, there was a disagreement with one of the home high schools, Dearborn High School (DHS), over the seniors of DCMST wearing the DCMST graduation medallions during their home high school graduation. DHS believed that the wearing of the medallions would make the seniors that attended DCMST look like they were 'better' than the other graduating seniors. DHS teachers and staff argued that DCMST equated to a 'club' just like any other student organization. They claimed that none of the other organizations (aside from National Honor Society) would be able to wear their 'club' sashes, ropes or other articles. After DHS told their seniors that attended DCMST that they could not wear the medallions at their high school graduation for this reason, a large number of DCMST students, parents, and teachers disagreed with the policy and the central district stepped in. The Dearborn Public Schools decided that as a compromise between the two schools, that a new district-wide policy would be created. This policy entails that seniors who graduated from DCMST would be able to wear a special colored cord at their home high school graduation ceremony, thereby avoiding wearing the medallions, but still receiving proper recognition. However, the high school colors of DHS are orange and black whereupon graduation students wear black robes. The green rope is indistinguishable from the black robes and would not allow for DCMST student recognition, the initial goal of DHS. Upon graduation in the Spring of 2006, students had been encouraged that the compromise was legitimate and that other clubs and organizations would not be sporting their given ropes, sashes etc with the exception of National Honor Society. However, before the graduation ceremony started, it can be noted that the message to students in other clubs and organizations in which other garments were given had not been told they couldn't wear their extra decorations. In protest, one student, Elizabeth Means wore her medal throughout the ceremony.

In the latter part of the 2006-2007 school year, DCMST students started putting more momentum behind a petition that would allow for DCMST graduating seniors to wear their DCMST medallions at their home high school graduation. DCMST students and parents, other Dearborn Public students, and residents of Dearborn have started to give support. This petition movement has lost steam as DCMST has changed its policies in relation to the DCMST medallions. These changes in the DCMST medallion policy include not handing out the medallions to all students, but only to 4 students from each graduating class who had earned status as "Student of the Year" one of their four years at the school and making sure that the DCMST Senior Honors Ceremony is held after the graduations at the home schools. This prevents any students from DCMST from being able to wear a medallion (if they receive one) because the students would not receive their medallions until after the graduation at the home high school has already occurred.