There will still be plenty of Pomp and Circumstance when high school seniors cross the stage in June.
But the stage will be virtual—or the ceremonies delayed.
Guidance from the state suggests graduation car parades might be acceptable, Schoharie Country Public Health Director Amy Gildemeister said Thursday.
But no train of cars with graduates lined up to get their degrees and no outdoor ceremonies no matter how socially-distanced.
For now at least.
The problem, Dr. Gildemeister said, is keeping graduates and their families in their cars at a time when everyone wants them to be able to celebrate.
“We’re all feeling very bad for them,” she said. “This should be a time for celebration. Everyone’s been looking for solutions…maybe the best we can hope for now are ceremonies later in the summer.”
Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School has already gone public with two events to honor the Class of 2020.
The first will be some sort of recognition Saturday, June 27—the day seniors would have graduated—using cars and social distancing with the details still being firmed up.
Additionally, a more traditional outdoor graduation ceremony is planned for Friday, August 14, again with more details to follow.
Sharon Springs Central School is considering three different graduation options with Middleburgh and Schoharie Central Schools looking to have theirs at the Greenville Drive-In if there’s no way to have them at home.
Dr. Gildemeister said she’s still waiting on an answer to the drive-thru question.
And answers change all the time, said Conesville Supervisor Bill Federice, a member of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Control Room for the Mohawk Valley, which meets in conference calls daily.
“We’re getting answers far faster than we were before and it’s a good place to ask questions and trade ideas,” Mr. Federice said.
“It’s a good group and it’s working well. There’s so much to this. It impacts every element of everyday life. There are a lot of moving parts and sometimes they conflict.”
One of them is likely to be graduation.
“Everyone is looking for options and we all want to honor our seniors,” he said, “but graduation ceremonies won’t be traditional ones. There’s just no way to manage them that way.”
MCS Superintendent Brian Dunn is one who’s been pushing for a traditional ceremony and criticized Dr. Gildemeister for refusing to look at graduations on a school-by-school basis.
“We continue to wait and see,” he told school board members last Tuesday, the day before superintendents’ weekly tele-meeting with Dr. Gildemeister.
“She will not look at it individually. We will ask her again and I will get our marching orders in writing.”
MCS could consider changing its graduation date, Mr. Dunn said, but it’s something there’s been little support for in the past.
At SSCS, Superintendent Pat Green said he’s also frustrated by the prospect of a virtual graduation.
“It’s the last thing in the world I want,” he said, though it’s one of the options they’re working on along with a car graduation and a socially-distanced ceremony on the athletic fields.
“The kids definitely want some kind of closure in proximity to each other,” added Principal Tom Yorke, “and it’s something we feel we can do safely.”
SSCS’s graduation is set for Friday, June 26 and Mr. Green said they can wait till the 22nd to finalize plans.
“The longer we hold out, the better our chances are,” he said.