Shelton residents are pressuring school officials to allow the family of a 17-year-old killed in a February car accident to accept a diploma on his behalf at the high school graduation June 10.
Eddy Conklin died Feb. 28 after a rollover accident on Shelton’s Bridgeport Avenue. The crash remains under investigation.
In the months since, his parents have been asking school officials if a diploma could be handed out in their son’s name at the school’s annual graduation.
The diploma would be accepted by one of Eddy’s relatives.
The Board of Education discussed the matter behind closed doors for about an hour May 10, but didn’t vote formally on a decision.
The next day, the board’s lawyer e‑mailed the Conklin family’s attorney offering to have an honorary diploma presented at the school’s awards ceremony, which is scheduled for June 2.
But the Conklins’ lawyer said Monday the family would rather have Eddy remembered with all the rest of his classmates present — at graduation.
“My sense is that they would like to hear his name called at the graduation,” the lawyer, William Sarris, said. “I reckon that they just want Eddy to be part of the total community at graduation.”
Public Outcry
The school board’s offer has not sat well with members of the community, who have started an online petition to have Conklin recognized at the school’s graduation.
As of 1:30 p.m. Monday more the petition had been signed by more than 1,500 people.
A Facebook group, “Justice for Edmund Conklin and Family,” has also been created.
Conklin’s mother, Barbara, spoke with WPLR’s Chaz & AJ Friday (May 13) and Monday (May 16), fighting through tears while recounting the family’s efforts to have Eddy recognized at the school’s graduation.
Click the play button below to listen to Friday’s interview.
“This is not something I wanted to do,” Barbara Conklin told the WPLR radio hosts. “I don’t want this to be an ugly or malicious attack on the school.”
She said the family just wants closure — not just for themselves, but also Eddy’s classmates.
She described Eddy’s friends as “wonderful young adults” who have supported her family in the months since her son’s death.
“I want to tell those parents ‘Be proud. Be proud of them because they’ve really helped us pull through this,’” Barbara Conklin said.
Why Is This An Issue?
Mark Holden, the chairman of the Board of Education, posted a lengthy statement to Facebook Sunday defending the school district’s proposal to present Conklin’s family with an honorary diploma at the June 2 awards ceremony.
The statement is posted below in its entirety.
“It is a solemn and dignified event where our most prestigious awards are given,” Holden wrote. “It is well attended and open to the public, but unlike graduation seating is not restricted. There would be room for all of the friends and family who want to attend. We feel that is the most appropriate place for the awarding of an honorary diploma.”
The public comments on Holden’s statement have been universally negative.
Many appreciate the school board’s efforts to explain their reasoning — but can’t see why school officials can’t simply let a member of Conklin’s family walk across a stage and receive his honorary diploma at the school’s graduation.
In a phone interview Monday, Holden said about a third of the emails he’s received on the matter have expressed support for the school board’s actions.
And he defended the board’s proposal to the Conklin family, saying the June 2 awards ceremony would allow more of Conklin’s family to attend, with seating limited at the graduation ceremony.
“We felt the awards ceremony was the right time,” Holden said. “It is an award, and because of the nature of the awards ceremony, we do have more space for family and friends that want to be there.”
“We’re not looking to be disrespectful or anything like that,” Holden said. “We’re just trying to do what in our opinion the majority of children would want.”
On WPLR Monday morning, Barbara Conklin urged residents to contact school officials.
“People are saying ‘What else can we do?’ The only thing is to bring awareness,” she said.
The Valley Indy left messages seeking comment Monday with Conklin’s parents and Shelton Schools Superintendent Christopher Clouet.
The school board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 25.
Clouet released the statement embedded below Tuesday afternoon.
Clouet Statement by ValleyIndyDotOrg
Statement by Mark Holden, Chairman of the Shelton Board of Education:
The district has worked with the Conklin family since the fatal car accident that took their son in February.
We have met with the parents, spoken by phone with them, and met with their legal representative. We supported them on setting up a scholarship fund in their son’s name, setting up a Basketball Tournament fundraiser in our gym, and discussing a variety of options regarding honoring the memory of Ed.
The Board of Education held a moment of silence in his honor at our March meeting. There will be another moment of silence at graduation. It is an established tradition.
I first became aware the parents were unhappy their son couldn’t receive a diploma on April 16th.
Diplomas are legal documents. While he was a good student and was on track to graduate, he hadn’t completed the courses required for a diploma. The Shelton Board of Education does not currently have a policy relating to the awarding of honorary diplomas to students who had untimely deaths. We can’t make arbitrary decisions. We need to follow a process to ensure each student under similar circumstances is treated the same.
I spoke with our superintendent, and he agreed the logical place to start was to look at what had been done in the past.
A couple of years ago the Board created a policy to comply with a law that requires public schools to award an honorary diploma for students who left school to join the service to serve in WWII or the Korean conflict. There was concern honorary diplomas might be restricted to those veterans. It had to be researched.
Whatever action we took in the past would establish a precedent. If no precedent existed we would be creating one and we needed to expect that every person similarly situated but not treated in essentially the same way in the past would complain. The implication was that others in the future would expect similar treatment.
We are aware of several students who had untimely deaths over the last several decades.
One student passed away after his diploma and the program books for his graduation were printed. He had finished his classes and had all required credits to graduate. A red rose was placed on his chair at graduation, and he graduated.
None of the others appear in our records for receiving a diploma or honorary diploma, and none of their names appear in the copies of the graduation program books we have on file.
People have said honorary diplomas have been awarded in the past. This may have happened, but we can’t find anything in our records to show it did or provide details for guidance.
Eddy’s untimely passing would need to be the start of developing a policy for the future.
The Superintendent and Board reviewed all available relevant information on May 10th. The Superintendent gave his recommendation, and the Board expressed support for it, but decided not to have a formal vote at the time because we didn’t want the parents to read the information on line before they were notified.
It would have been inappropriate for us to contact the Conklin family directly as they have an attorney addressing the matter for them. We had our attorney email our proposal to their attorney. It was sent at 12:33pm on May 11th.
What we proposed is to award Edmund Conklin an Honorary Diploma at the evening Senior Awards Ceremony on June 2nd. It is a solemn and dignified event where our most prestigious awards are given. It is well attended and open to the public, but unlike graduation seating is not restricted. There would be room for all of the friends and family who want to attend.
We feel that is the most appropriate place for the awarding of an honorary diploma.
We have also reached out to another family from the class of 2016 who suffered the tragic early death of their child.
