Security measures at East Rockaway High School graduation

Fourth Precinct police, as well as security guards were a presence at the East Rockaway High School graduation ceremony on June 24.

Mary Malloy/Herald

Amid controversy over a highly publicized water balloon fight among some members of the East Rockaway High School junior and senior classes just 10 days before graduation, 14 of the 119 graduating seniors were not allowed to attend the ceremony.

Police and other security personnel were on duty outside and in the lobby of the school building before, during and after the ceremony, checking tickets and questioning those who came in without them. A few of the banned students stood across from the school, wearing their caps and gowns. More than one person said that some of the graduates planned to wear deflated orange and black balloons on their mortarboards in support of their absent classmates, but others said that those students were instructed to take the balloons off before commencement or they, too, would not be able to participate.