GALESBURG, Ill. (AP) - Five students will get the diplomas they were denied when cheers erupted for them at a high school graduation, and school officials said yesterday they would review their decorum policy.

Galesburg High School officials said they would not hand over the keepsake diplomas unless they received apologies. But the stalemate about the diplomas and the media attention it attracted have taken valuable time and energy, they said.

"It is time for the good of the community, the school district, the families and the students involved to move on," Superintendent Gene Denisar said in a written statement.

The diplomas were withheld because the school said cheering violated a policy aimed at restoring graduation decorum. The students still were considered graduates on paper, but they didn’t have diplomas.

Graduate Nadia Trent, who picked up her diploma from the school secretary yesterday afternoon, said she’s "just happy it’s over."

Denisar cited talks with the Illinois State Board of Education, which has said it cannot support the district’s decorum policy.

Peoria attorney Jeffrey Green, who took the students’ case at no cost, sent a letter Tuesday threatening to sue the district if officials did not apologize and deliver the diplomas by 5 p.m. yesterday.

"They met with the families two or three times and had a chance to get this thing right," he said. "I’ve been involved less than 24 hours, and now they have their diplomas, so you draw your own conclusions."

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