The School Administrative District 6 Board of Directors on Monday postponed until next week a performance review of Superintendent Suzanne Lukas, whose handling of the Bonny Eagle High School graduation last month brought her criticism from around the country, though it appears the embattled administrator will keep her position for now.

The review, conducted behind closed doors, will take place Monday, July 20, at 6 p.m. at the central office. The review was postponed by a 604-314 weighted vote just after 10 p.m. Each board member is given a number of votes based on the population of the town they represent. At that point, the meeting, which was often tense when the subject of graduation surfaced, had just gone over the three-hour mark and board members felt they could not do the review justice at that late hour.

Lukas was at Monday’s meeting, though she did not take part in a private meeting the board held with its attorney. The meeting was concerning the board’s “legal rights and duties,” according to the agenda. Lukas will attend the performance review.

The board did take the first steps in forming a committee to review graduation expectations, including issues such as venue, behavior and clothing. The expectations now in place were approved following the 2005 graduation, at which some administrators felt the students misbehaved.

It was those guidelines that Lukas said she was following when she refused student Justin Denney his diploma after Denney blew a kiss to his mother in the crowd while wearing a cord Lukas said was not approved. The subsequent debate over Lukas’ actions exploded into a national news story, and around 300 people attended a hearing on the subject last month, with residents overwhelmingly supporting Denney, who has become the face of this debate, though two other students were removed from the ceremony.

Denney’s father, Carl Hoffses, said during a break in Monday’s meeting that his son, who picked up his diploma at the post office this week, is still waiting for an apology from Lukas. Denney and his family will continue to push for Lukas’ resignation or firing, Hoffses said, though he was told by Chairman David Hopkins that the board would not be buying out Lukas’ contract.

“I’m in it for the long haul,” said Hoffses, who has hired lawyers to look into a possible lawsuit. “My son was publicly humiliated. Somebody needs to take responsibility.”

According to her contract, Lukas on June 30 finished the first year of a five-year agreement that paid her $118,450 last year. It is scheduled to run through June 30, 2013. She has been superintendent in SAD 6 since 2004. Hoffses said he was told the contract had one year left. Hopkins did not immediately return calls seeking clarification.

The board members are not discussing publicly Lukas’ handling of graduation or the performance review, citing confidentiality surrounding personnel issues. But there are clearly differing opinions among board members, many of whom made public statements at Monday’s meeting that hinted at what discussion may be occurring behind closed doors.

Before the vote postponing the performance review, board member Larry Miller of Buxton suggested the district hire an investigator to look into the graduation ceremony before Lukas’ review.

“There are a lot of things that bear upon a performance evaluation that I would like to understand before I make a judgement,” Miller said.

But, Charlotte Dufresne, a board member from Limington, wondered if the board was putting too much emphasis on the graduation ceremony when considering how Lukas has done her job over the past year.

“Are we hanging a performance evaluation on one instant?” she asked.

Board member Joseph Hanley Jr. of Limington ruffled some feathers when he relayed a story about the 2005 graduation he heard from an unnamed school administrator who was at that event.

Hanley said the administrator told him the graduation, which was held up by Lukas and Bonny Eagle Principal Beth Schultz at last month’s hearing as an example of why stricter guidelines were put in place, was not as bad as has been portrayed. While Lukas said administrators failed to act appropriately as students misbehaved, Hanley, who was not at the 2005 graduation, said he was told the administrators simply did not think the behavior warranted a harsh response.

“They did not ignore bad behavior,” said Hanley. “The administrators were exercising discretion.”

Hopkins dismissed the version of events in Hanley’s story, saying he did not agree and that “he would leave it at that.”

The graduation review committee, as outlined by Hopkins, will consist of two board members, three students, three parents or community members, three faculty members and three administrators. An ad hoc committee of board members will decide on the committee members with the help of Schultz, who is accepting volunteers for consideration.

The ad hoc committee was suggested by board member Terry Whyte of Standish after Michael Delcourt, also director from Standish, said he feared parents and students upset at Lukas’ actions would be left off the committee.

“They need to be on this committee. They have a stake in this too,” said Delcourt, who earlier in the meeting said the students of each class should lead in deciding how to conduct graduation.

“The kids and the school should be making these decisions. They are the ones graduating, not us,” he said.

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