A petition launched in Burnsville is calling on the local school district to improve the way it honors students who have died before they can graduate.

Burnsville High School is holding its graduation ceremony on Friday, and a petition was launched in advance asking that the names of Max Loeza and Peter Genis be read out during the event, and possibly two seats being left empty in their honor.

Loeza, 17, was about to start his senior year when he tragically drowned in Lake Michigan last August, while Genis was killed in a motorcycle crash shortly before his 18th birthday this past October.

But the request and the 1,148-signature petition were ultimately turned down by school and Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school leaders, which referred to its district graduation policies for acknowledging

See Full Page