FOLLOWUP: Graduations scheduled. World Cup conflict not avoided. Local parent has one more warning

(WSB file photo)

One week ago tonight, we published local parent Arin‘s plea for Seattle Public Schools to hurry up and announce graduation dates, since a conflict with the FIFA World Cup Seattle games seemed in the cards. The district has finalized the schedule – on June 17, Chief Sealth IHS at 5 pm at McCaw Hall, followed by West Seattle HS at 8 pm, same date/site – and the conflict remains. Arin says there’s one more thing families and others need to be aware of: “SPS sent the dates last Friday but failed to mention in their email that graduations at McCaw Hall (CSIHS and WS) will have a limited number of tickets. They won’t tell us how many tickets each graduating student gets …” and, Arin adds, the “limited tickets” note was only included on a social-media post. McCaw Hall is described online as having a capacity of just under 3,000, about a quarter of the now-demolished Memorial Stadium, and less than Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex, where the local schools held commencement ceremonies as recently as 2022.

Mellow Kitty December 16, 2025 (6:04 am)

Seattle Colleges also have their graduation scheduled for the 17th. Pack your patience!

Rob December 16, 2025 (7:03 am)

Why cant they make it simple and just use the gym? No headache having to drive down town.

Mad as Hell December 16, 2025 (8:33 am)

This is just outrageous! We are supposed to go to McCaw hall on June 17th? The first World Cup game in June 15. The second World Cup, when the Americans play Australia, is June 19th. Does anyone have any understanding how busy Seattle is going to be? We will have hundreds of thousands of extra people in town, many of them who will be at the Space Needle, MOPAP, etc. Does anyone in their right mind know how long it is going to take families to get to Seattle Center? And where are we supposed to park????

Our city will be jam packed with visitors that week. Normally, seniors graduate before the last week of school. Why in the world are we not having graduating the week before school ends at SWAC? There will be far fewer World Cup visitors. SWAC is local, convenient, large enough for the crowd, and presumably free to use. Alas, that makes too much sense.

So frustrating December 16, 2025 (9:00 am)

If this doesn’t affect you, I’m sure you just shrug and roll on. If it does affect your family and graduate, this is really devastating news to those that wanted a chance to celebrate an amazing accomplishment by their student. But SPS proves once again that, in a city know for bad decision making, they are the winner. It’s hard to know to what degree it’s apathy or just incompetence. There is zero reason the ceremonies couldn’t be happening a week or two early. There’s zero reason they couldn’t have found a time to hold this locally at SWAC. Instead we got the worst possible timing and location. It’s really sad how what’s best for the kids often isn’t the driving force behind the decisions. This was an easy one to get right and they absolutely put their lack of regard on display for all to see… again. And to think we had to wait an extra three months for the announcement, what a joke.

Frog December 16, 2025 (6:43 pm)

McCaw Hall seems to be next door to Memorial Stadium, so in a way is minimum possible change in location from past years. It’s also much more special as a venue than SWAC, and very near to the exit from the 99 tunnel. You are right that the performance standards of SPS are very low, and it’s beyond them to think clearly about the unique issues of this year’s graduation and get student and family input on a timely basis. But it seems overall like less of a disaster than you imply. It’s worst of course for older relatives with limited mobility and ability to be out and about for long periods. Maybe everyone should start chartering buses now. I don’t think it will be so bad. Maybe some enterprising seniors could invite Egyptian, Belgian, or Australian national team soccer players to make an appearance at the ceremonies.

Arin December 16, 2025 (9:37 am)

Please take the time to voice your concerns to the school board, principals and central office leadership. They have no regard for what’s best for our kids and ignore us until we stand up and get loud.

kitty December 16, 2025 (9:45 am)

Forcing students and families to pay outrageous parking fees in sketchy downtown to graduate. Shame. It will be so fun when everyone leaves at once and you’re all struggling to get out of the garages with your cellphone QR code and no human being to help anyone out! What a good time they’ve set y’all up for! Grateful my son graduated in 2022 at SWAC which worked out great despite the weather. Also, what’s up with 8pm?? I hope parents can come together and push the district for better solution. Kids work hard for this, can’t they celebrate in the daylight? 😑

Kyle December 16, 2025 (11:25 am)

I am assuming the weather is the tradeoff. McCaw is indoors. SWAC is outdoors.
Lagartija Nick December 16, 2025 (1:12 pm)

Lower Queen Anne and the Seattle Center are nowhere near “sketchy downtown Seattle”.
CarDriver December 16, 2025 (1:27 pm)

Kitty. So, it’s all the visitors that will be in town that are “sketchy”?
Tae December 16, 2025 (1:34 pm)

‘Forcing students and families to pay outrageous parking fees in sketchy downtown to graduate – It will be so fun when everyone leaves at once’ 1. When did the McCaw Hall become ‘a sketchy part of town’? Betting many of the same families go to the same area (and parking garage) for art performances.2. Everyone ‘leaving at once’ is also not a new concept after an event, probably many of the same families leave the football and baseball stadium all at once too. But when it’s their choice that’s ok right?
kitty December 16, 2025 (1:46 pm)

Too many goofy replies. Yes it’s sketchy. I work downtown, I bus downtown at night. You can be obtuse if you want about the state of downtown but most families aren’t trying to hangout with the leaners after an 8pm graduation in their fancy clothes stuck in a garage or catching a bus. Boohoooo virtue signaling from anti family people.
WS Res December 16, 2025 (3:39 pm)

And when it was at the stadium, literally two blocks from McCaw Hall, how was it any different? “Forcing students and families to pay outrageous parking fees in sketchy downtown to graduate” and “everyone leaving at once” seems like it was the situation then, no? (We’ll leave aside that Seattle Center is neither “downtown” nor “sketchy.”)
WiseWoman December 18, 2025 (12:12 pm)

Eastside schools did key arena also before the transition or right after. The SPS administration and school board and stupidly that grossly affects all our families has been bad for decades all around. They are incapable of making good decisions about ANYTHING AT ALL. As well times for graduation are always staggered amongst schools. Having rival schools back to back may only be helpful if same family has the same graduation at both schools, think split families etc. it seems problematic to do it this way for sure. I would encourage people to car pool and I am glad McCaw Hall was chosen as it is a beautiful venue for our Ballet and attached to the Seattle Opera that also has our Veteran Opera!

K December 16, 2025 (9:51 am)

The C line drops you off a block and a half from McCaw.

Insensitive December 16, 2025 (10:47 am)

No, the C line does not go anywhere near that close to McCaw Hall. And very thoughtful of to suggest that 3000 people take the bus to graduation during the biggest tourist event in the history of our city. It’s your lack of regard for others that has us in the divisive political landscape that these young adults are inheriting. I hope they see our disfunction and see how unnecessary it is. Please save us from the selfish politics of baby boomers, the apathy of Gen X and the arrogance of Millennials.
- Arrogant Millenial December 16, 2025 (11:05 am)
  
  Nothing in K’s post indicated a lack of regard for others.
- M December 16, 2025 (11:34 am)
  
  Someone suggested taking the bus, and this is your response?
- k December 16, 2025 (11:48 am)
  
  Sorry about the confusion! It used to be direct and they re-routed it. I stopped to double-check the route, realized I was wrong, but didn’t realize it had posted when I navigated away. Must have fat-fingered it! Sorry again for the misinformation. The Mercer Garage is sketchy whether there are ten people in town or ten million, so I would still recommend public transit, even with the transfer involved.
- CarDriver December 16, 2025 (1:29 pm)
  
  Insensitive. Read your post. And you are correct. You are insensitive.
- Mellow Kitty December 17, 2025 (6:04 am)
  
  What are you talking about? How does suggesting taking the bus sow political division and generational conflict? Calm down.
Benjamin Lukoff December 16, 2025 (11:43 am)

Try over half a mile
Another Kyle December 16, 2025 (12:14 pm)

While it’s not really that close, it’s still just a 15 minute walk through a flat and not-sketchy part of the city. I’ve done it a few times and it’s not bad at all if you are able-bodied. Obviously not going to work for everyone but definitely an option. I don’t think it’s insensitive at all to bring this up.

MercerArena4Evr December 16, 2025 (10:42 am)

Not trying to be adversarial but what is the issue exactly? High school graduations at event centers is a very common occurrence. The listed dates are not the same days Seattle is hosting World Cup games. I go to many Storm, Kraken, and concerts at Climate Pledge and never pay for parking. You can find plenty of street parking for free or for a nominal fee. Am I missing something?

Kyle December 16, 2025 (11:23 am)

Genuinely curious if you drive, where you park and “never pay for parking”.
- ITotallyAgreeWithYou December 16, 2025 (3:20 pm)
  
  I too would like to know what they’re referencing, being a resident in the area myself. The street parking is mostly zoned and otherwise regulated so if you’re finding “plenty” of “free” options, you’re probably breaking the law and screwing residents who must pay a zoning fee to park in the neighborhood legally. And there is no shortage of scofflaws who park blocking driveways, no parking zones, literally on the corner splitting two streets, and all sorts of creative ways to park. There are three garages in the area as well as pay lots- be as considerate and lawful as you expect others to be in your neighborhood. Neighbors here are gearing up to have parking enforcement on speed dial.
  - MercerArena4evr December 16, 2025 (6:41 pm)
    
    I park up the hill in upper QA where there isn’t parking by permit only. A bit of a walk but it’s good for ya!
Arin December 16, 2025 (11:47 am)

Main issue being that they delayed (3 months later than usual) the release of the dates until after World Cup was announced. This makes it so long distance families and friends are competing with World Cup travelers for accomodations and they’re not cheap. They also aren’t telling us how many tickets each graduate gets. How can we invite guests to pay skyrocketing prices when we don’t even know if they can attend?
Arin December 16, 2025 (1:38 pm)

Do you think people fly in and out the same day as the World Cup matches or do you think they’ll stay and be tourists in the city for a few days. I bet the latter.
Grad probs December 21, 2025 (9:45 am)

My family would all be coming from out of town and hotels and rentals are completely booked or price gouging

my two cents December 16, 2025 (12:35 pm)

Regardless of the decision, should be noted by the Seattle Public School website that an attempt was made to solicit input – how well it was communicated to the public is a separate issue; “Thank you for your understanding and support as we finalized these details. We also want to thank the 2,220 community members who completed the Graduation Venue survey. Your input was key in selecting McCaw Hall as the interim site while Memorial Stadium undergoes renovation.”. Some of the survey respondents advocated for McCaw Hall as the interim site.

Arin December 16, 2025 (1:31 pm)

The venue is the least of our worries and was the only part they asked for input. If we made it clear that we wanted McCaw Hall, why are we just finding out dates in December instead of September?
- K December 16, 2025 (3:00 pm)
  
  If you’re not worried about the venue, it makes your ask upthread a bit confusing. What do you want people to contact the district and share their opinions about? McCaw Hall was the preferred venue, but their calendar is not wide open, nor is any other venue’s. I get that it would have been great to have the dates months ago. I’m with you there, but I fail to see how encouraging people to message the district and the school board will change that.
  - Arin December 16, 2025 (4:36 pm)
    
    Because we don’t have unlimited tickets like previous years because of the smaller venue. They aren’t providing that number to us and they need to so we can plan. They know the capacity and they know how many seniors there are, what’s the delay in doing the math?
    - WS Res December 16, 2025 (6:12 pm)
      
      I graduated from a 1200 person high school. We used our football stadium for graduation but when weather threatened, we moved indoors, at which point each kid got one family ticket.We survived, we got our diplomas, we moved on.
    - Arin December 16, 2025 (8:11 pm)
      
      So since you didn’t get the ceremony you deserved, these kids shouldn’t either? No big deal. This is the type of attitude that creates the SPS system that doesn’t give a crap about students or their families.

WSEnvironmentalist December 16, 2025 (3:13 pm)

How about using the Paramount or the Moore or Alaska Airlines on the UW campus? And a bus rental company for the commute. The cost of parking for families should cover buses.

WS Res December 16, 2025 (6:11 pm)

McCaw hall has a capacity of about 2900. Paramount, about 2800. Moore, about 1300.
- k December 16, 2025 (8:34 pm)
  
  Parking for the Moore would be a nightmare, STG tends to keep it and the Paramount pretty solidly booked a year in advance, or more (yes, there are things on the calendar that have not been announced yet). McCaw is, like others have said, the closest venue to the one that is traditionally used for graduation. It’s the same relative commute and parking situation that was anticipated every year until the construction at Memorial Stadium started. It’s a nice space, and will make for amazing memories for the students who get to walk the stage there.
  
  There was never going to be an easy/cheap answer for scheduling relatives’ flights and accommodations when an expected 700,000 tourists are supposed to descend on the city in the same time frame as your event, space is scarce due to World Cup-related events, and venue calendars are not wide open.
  
  At least now families have dates and a venue to plan logistics, And extended relatives know there is a chance they won’t be able to personally attend the graduation. They can decide if coming to the city anyway to see family, celebrate the occasion with their grandchild/niece/nephew, see everyone at the dinner after, the photo shoot before, and throughout the week at whatever else is planned, is enough to make them want to come. Or they can decide having to see that three hour piece of the week virtually makes it not worth coming at all (in which case, let’s be honest, they’re probably not that close of relatives anyway, if they’re only willing to show support if they can get a ticket to the event).

KT December 16, 2025 (3:42 pm)

Curious if the graduating students are as freaked out as some of the parents posting comments here. At my high school graduation, we just wanted to snag that diploma and go party with our friends!

Arin December 16, 2025 (4:53 pm)

The adults in their lives that helped them accomplish a huge milestone deserve to be there to celebrate. They’ll still be free to grab their diploma and party afterwards.

ThisIsAwful December 16, 2025 (4:13 pm)

Yes, I am freaked out as a parent. How am I supposed to commute to Seattle Center in the middle of the World Cup?

And when SPS solicited input from parents, did they remind people that the World Cup was happening in mid-June? Because most people didn’t have that on their calendars. When parents chose McCaw Hall were they thinking, “Oh, those seats sound comfortable!” Or were they thinking, “There is no way we will be able to get parking, or get on a bus, given the fact there will literally be hundreds of thousands of extra people in Seattle the week of June 15 and many of them will be hanging out downtown and at Seattle Center?”

We will not be able to have out-of-town guests given the costs of air travel that week. And at McCaw Hall, we don’t even know how many tickets for parents, grandparents, and siblings will be allotted. This is AWFUL. Zoom may be preferable to fighting the hordes to get to these ceremonies.

Math December 16, 2025 (8:53 pm)

If there are roughly 450 students in the class, expect between 4 and 6 tickets to be issued to each graduate.

Arin December 16, 2025 (9:12 pm)

We can all do the math, what would be nice is for the district to do their job, competently.

Math December 16, 2025 (9:37 pm)

Sorry, my comment was meant to be helpful, not minimizing. It would be great to know for sure, but with a rough estimate some high level planning is possible. For example, with my graduate having two parents + two siblings, unless we can scrounge some extra tickets it is probably grandma and no one else (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) who can come.
- Arin December 17, 2025 (7:38 am)
  
  Beating a dead horse but I would just love to know that I can have those extra tickets for auntie to fly from Boston and our daughter from California and best friend from Arizona. Ks comment above thinks that’s only close relationships will fly over to live stream from a living room if they can’t get a ticket. Truth is, our family has multiple graduations, baseball tournaments out of town and Nascar tickets in SD the next day. So we can’t find all that extra time for side activities for people that come to town. The graduation WAS the event for all.

Adam December 17, 2025 (6:50 am)

Something glossed over is the fact that the hotel room prices skyrocketed while SPS sat on their hands. The only local hotel option in WSea had rooms going from around 120-150 typically to, last I checked, just under $500. It will only go up as we get closer. We couldn’t secure rooms for grandparents because we didn’t have dates, and when we received dates, the prices were already way up. Not to mention the 3-night-minimum stay required to get the room. Luckily my family can afford it. Not all can. But my family will have to pay exorbitant hotel costs for family that, due to not knowing the number of guests that can show, may not be able to see the ceremony. Sure, we could wait and see how many tickets each family receives, and then the rooms will be $700? $1000? And I can’t believe the way neighbors talk to each other on here when commenting on things that should never escalate to such insults and tone. We’re just talking about not getting information from a school district and that’ll it’ll cost many families more than they can afford to see graduations. There’s no reason to be so crazy and mean about this. What’s happened to all of you? It’s embarrassing and likely why most of you hide behind screen names, because there’s no way a face to face discussion about this with your neighbors would devolve so quickly. We’re talking about kids but you should still be able to act like adults

Arin December 17, 2025 (7:49 am)

1000%Scream it from the rooftops!
Kyle December 17, 2025 (6:49 pm)

The Grove is a boutique hotel with only 46 rooms. Of course it’s going to be expensive. Plenty of affordable options by the airport or north of downtown closer to the ceremony.
- Adam December 17, 2025 (8:07 pm)
  
  Uhhhhh….this argument would hold water if you weren’t talking to somebody who has rented rooms at both The Grove and many other hotel rooms all over the region, for myself or for family or for friends. Let’s just do the simple math: if their rooms went up 300+%, what will happen to those “affordable options”? If you’d like to answer that for yourself, go to their websites. Already happening, Kyle. This wasn’t about the regular prices of rooms, it was about how they skyrocketed when the World Cup was announced. The Grove doesn’t charge nearly $500/night every summer. Wow.

SLJ December 17, 2025 (7:55 am)

It’s unfortunate that the World Cup is the same month, but there isn’t anything the district can do about that. I appreciate that the graduation day isn’t the same day as a game. Yes, there will be thousands of tourists in the city, but what else can they do?SPS did ask for input as to the locations. They sent a survey to the email listed for parents. If you didn’t do the survey, I’m not sure why you’re upset. McCaw Hall won, and they arranged for the graduation. As for the area and parking, it’s the same as Memorial Stadium! It’s unfortunate that hotel costs and flights will be so much more expensive. But again, that isn’t the fault of SPS. The World Cup is here for a month so there isn’t a lot of flexibility. Plus, McCall Hall (and other venues) have other events too, so adding all the graduation ceremonies limits the options.I’m sorry some of you are upset, and for the families from out of town. It’s disappointing. SPS is far from perfect, but honestly I think this time they did okay. I’m looking forward to seeing my daughter graduate, and we’ll just need some good music for the traffic on the way there.

Arin December 17, 2025 (10:51 pm)

Maybe bullet points will help the people struggling to understand the issue and SPS incompetence.
June – Email sent out to survey families on alternate locations for graduation (memorial stadium under renovation)
September – Graduation dates typically announced (didn’t happen)
October – No graduation dates released
November – No graduation dates released
1st week of December – Hotel have normal prices but no graduation dates to be able to confidently book them
2nd week of December – World Cup matches announced and hotels skyrocket 300%
3rd week of December – SPS FINALLY releases class of 2026 graduation dates

So we can start planning and booking overpriced hotels now, right? NOPE! Why not? Because SPS won’t disclose how many tickets each family will receive at the alternate venue. No ticket limit previous years because memorial stadium was a large venue. This will come as a surprise to many families SINCE THEY DIDN’T INCLUDE THIS NEW INFO IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT.

Get it now? If not, you’re either ignorant or blind to SPS failures.

MrsT December 18, 2025 (1:13 pm)

I am really glad that my final child is graduating this year because I am so sick of dealing with the decisions that SPS makes. It is ridiculous to me that they moved the ceremony out of West Seattle and even worse that they won’t tell us how many tickets we are allowed. Also, funnily enough, the picture at the top of this post is of my very own daughter who graduated (at SWAC) 4 years ago!

Sorry, comment time is over.