FAIRFIELD (AP) – The sister of a Lawrence High School senior who earned the credits he needed to graduate before he died in a January car crash will be permitted to accept his diploma during next Friday’s graduation ceremony.

The board of School Administrative District 49 voted unanimously to revise its policy that allowed diplomas of deceased students to be awarded only in private ceremonies with family members.

The vote enables Elizabeth Violette to take the stage at the start of the commencement proceedings and accept the diploma that would have gone to her brother, Joseph Violette of Clinton. A moment of silence will follow, and the regular graduation program will then begin.

The SAD 49 vote followed a petition campaign by Elizabeth Violette and her mother, Kathy Tucker, who wanted her daughter to accept the diploma by walking on stage like other students at the commencement.

By so doing, Violette would have run afoul of the school district’s policy that forbids any personalized participation by family and friends at graduation to memorialize deceased students.

SAD 49 Chairman Steven Grenier said Thursday night’s decision upholds the overall policy, but adjusts it to provide a grieving family with the closure it seeks.

“No policy should be etched in stone,” Grenier said.

Tucker said her petition campaign,, which began in the high school and then expanded into the community, had collected more than 2,400 signatures as of Friday. She intended to present the petitions to school officials next week, but no longer has to.

“I can focus now on the joy we can have at graduation,” Tucker said. “I’m so thrilled. I thank the board totally for their compassion to us in reconsidering this.”