WESTBROOK – Two local businesses have stepped up once again to cover the cost of the rental of Merrill Auditorium in Portland for Westbrook High School’s graduation.

Idexx Laboratories and DisabilityRMS have provided $2,000 each to pay for the $4,000 rental, according to Interim School Superintendent Marc Gousse. Idexx also donated an additional $2,000 to Project Graduation, Gousse said.

“The venue was fully funded, at no cost to the taxpayers,” Gousse said.

Dick Daigle, director of facilities at Idexx, said the company learned through word of mouth last year that the class of 2010 needed help, and stepped forward with a donation. This year, he said, it happened in much the same way.

“They made us aware that there was a need,” he said. “It’s just another way for us to express our appreciation for the city.”

The venue has housed the school’s graduation for more than a decade now, but the recent construction of a 1,000-seat performing arts center as part of the new Westbrook Middle School created a new dilemma: Should the high school keep holding graduation at the auditorium, or at the center?

Gousse, who served as high school principal before taking on the superintendent position in March, said during construction of the middle school, school officials discussed many ideas for the performing arts center, including holding graduation ceremonies there, but school administrators never made any commitments to the center.

“Nobody from the school ever guaranteed that we would hold graduation there,” Gousse said.

Guarantee or not, the construction of the center led to a dispute when the school committee voted to cut $4,000 out of the school budget, with the expectation that the graduation ceremony would then take place at the center. But the students insisted on holding it at the auditorium, citing tradition as the reason.

This week, School Committee Chairman Ed Symbol said the class of 2011 chose once again to hold it at the auditorium in Portland.

The district, Symbol said, has rewritten its policy, allowing the class to hold graduation wherever it likes, as long as it doesn’t cost the district anything.

“They can have it at the high school at the football field if they want to, they can have it at the Merrill if they want, but the cost to the district would have to be zero,” Symbol said.

Symbol said he didn’t fully understand why the students would prefer the auditorium. Gousse said the auditorium holds just under 2,000 people, and graduation usually draws more than 1,500 people.

Symbol acknowledged that a crowd that size would not fit in the performing arts center, but many colleges and universities use an “overflow room” system, where additional guests could watch the proceedings simulcast at the school’s cafeteria.

Symbol said the tradition of holding graduation in Portland began when the school was renovating the Warren Centennial Gym at the high school. Symbol acknowledged that past ceremonies held at the gym were probably not as comfortable as the auditorium, but it felt more like home there.

“It was hot, it was sweaty, we had fans going, but it’s the school you went to,” he said.

Symbol said if it were his decision, he’d rather see graduation held somewhere in Westbrook, either at the performing arts center or outside on the football field.

“There’s nothing connecting Merrill to Westbrook High School,” he said. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Having said that, Symbol added that he would honor the class’s wishes. He will still be attending this year’s graduation, he said, and helping to hand out diplomas.

“It’s a great day for the kids,” he said. “It’s a great ceremony. I just wish it was in a different spot.”