Yelm High School’s 2027 graduation to take place at Saint Martin’s University

In a move that will save the district over $15,000, Yelm Community Schools Superintendent Chris Woods announced that Yelm High School’s graduation in 2027 will not take place inside of the Tacoma Dome as it typically has for years.

Rather than driving over 40 minutes into Pierce County to the Tacoma Dome, YHS seniors will take a quicker 25-minute drive into Thurston County on June 16, 2027, as the graduation ceremony will take place at Saint Martin’s University.

“I want to talk about the cost of graduation in the Tacoma Dome. Our bill for the Tacoma Dome is $21,500 to have graduation there,” Woods said. “I think we would all agree that it’s a great venue. We don’t have limits on the number of people that can come. They provide staffing, security. It’s really we show up that morning and put up a lot of Yelm stuff. We have graduation. We grab our things and walk out the door. That’s about it.”

Woods added that the district cannot continue to spend over $20,000 on graduation in a good conscience due to the ongoing funding situation as local levy dollars are non-existent.

According to Woods, YCS “has committed” to having 2027’s graduation at Saint Martin’s University on June 16, 2027. It will cost the district $6,100 — over $15,000 less than the Tacoma Dome’s price tag.

“I think that it is important for us as a district to find ways that we can cut costs,” Woods said. “I think, again, going back to taxpayer dollars, I think we need to do our best to find ways to cut costs. We’re locked in for June 16. The breakdown of that cost is $3,700 for the facility, and then $2,400 for the people that come in and do the sound, the video, the lights and all of that. A total of $6,100.”

Woods added that Olympia High School utilizes Saint Martin’s University as a graduation setting, and that most medium-to-large schools in Thurston County also use the local university to celebrate graduates.

“If you think about what it would cost us to put it on our field at the stadium, number one, seating there would probably be limited even more in our stadium,” Woods said. “You also run the risk of weather and you don’t have a plan B if it’s raining. The things you’d have to rent and the money you’d have to spend, we feel like for $6,100, we’re guaranteed indoors and all of the things we’d need for graduation to run smoothly.”

The superintendent said it takes a lot of people power and money to be able to host a graduation at YHS — unless the graduation was to occur inside the gymnasium rather than the stadium and football field.

He also ruled out hosting graduation in the gymnasium due to its smaller size.

“I wanted to make this announcement now because we already get calls for graduation next year because people make plans to travel in,” Woods said. “We’ll get details out, an estimate. We’ll work with Curtis (Cleveringa, YHS principal) and the high school on an estimate of how many tickets each family would get. They stream graduation at St. Martin’s. They’ll send a link out for that, just like we did at the Tacoma Dome. People can watch it if they can’t attend.”