LONDONDERRY — Due to a scheduling conflict, this year’s crop of graduating Londonderry High School seniors will now travel to Concord for the 2013 baccalaureate ceremony.

Traditionally held at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, the baccalaureate ceremony, which honors high-achieving graduates earning various scholarships, will be moved to the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord this year since the Manchester venue is already booked for that week due to an extension of its Broadway show series.

The changes were discussed with the school board Tuesday evening, when Principal Jason Parent and several senior class representatives announced the changes.

Held in early June, the graduating high school class enjoys a week of scheduled events, with a senior project showcase that Monday, a senior class supper on Tuesday, a senior class trip on Wednesday, the baccalaureate on Thursday, and graduation ceremonies on Friday.

Parent said it was a challenge to find a fitting venue for the baccalaureate since approximately 200 students typically attend, in addition to faculty members, administrators and immediate family members.

The Palace Theatre seats 865 people, and Parent said the theater is filled to capacity each year.

School officials had initially hoped to move the June 13 event to the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy in Derry but soon learned that venue was also booked for the evening.

Parent said the Capital Center’s fees, at $2,800, are actually cheaper than the Palace Theatre’s $3,000 fee.

Still, not everyone was pleased to learn about the change in venue.

“I don’t like this idea,” school board member John Robinson said. “I think Concord is just too far.”

Last year, when the district considered holding the graduation ceremony at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass., instead of the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, the idea was ultimately nixed after school officials considered the logistics of busing students to the venue.

“I still don’t like the idea of adding buses into the equation,” Robinson said, noting that he felt that considering the current economic climate, it might be wise to move the baccalaureate inside the school’s gymnasium or on the football field.

“No, it wouldn’t be as theatrical an experience, but we could invest in a better sound system and not spend as much money at a time when we’re cutting teachers,” Robinson added. “If (the gym) is good enough for other functions, I think the gym is good enough for this.”

Parent said he still supported the decision to move the event to Concord.

“Honestly, if the Palace Theatre was available that night, we wouldn’t even be talking about this,” he told Robinson. “So telling us we shouldn’t have it (in Concord), I think it’s unfair and inappropriate.”

Student Anissa Cote, who serves as the school board liaison, said she, for one, doesn’t mind traveling to Concord for the baccalaureate.

“I can’t imagine having this in the gym,” she added. “It would be really stuffy and really hot in there.”

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April Guilmet may be reached at AGuilmet@newstote.com.