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Some of Central New York’s largest school districts - including Baldwinsville, Cicero North Syracuse, Jamesville-DeWitt, Liverpool and West Genesee - have announced plans for graduation ceremonies this month.
The events, which will occur during the state’s phased re-opening in the coronavirus pandemic, are modified ceremonies squeezed into a set of restrictions and recommendations issued to slow the spread of the virus that closed schools and altered daily living since mid-March.
Many districts are holding out hope and planning for a potential second ceremony in July - when state restrictions on social gatherings imposed during the coronavirus pandemic might be relaxed.
Baldwinsville, C-NS, Liverpool and West Genesee all are currently planning to have some form of drive-through and/or virtual ceremony.
Jamesville-DeWitt plans to have students and family members visit the high school auditorium June 13 and 14 in order to have graduates individually walk the stage and receive a diploma.
Limits on the size of gatherings, still at 10 people – imposed under executive order by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo – and requirements around social distancing have handcuffed schools in their graduation planning.
In a May 27 letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, members of the State Senate Majority asked the governor to consider relaxing restrictions on the size of gatherings to allow schools to hold a more traditional style of graduation.
During his Thursday coronavirus briefing, the governor didn’t sound like he was ready to relax restrictions on gatherings soon.
Responding to a reporter’s question about the possibility of holding in-person ceremonies using social-distancing, Cuomo cited the March religious gathering in New Rochelle that spawned a cluster of new coronavirus cases that jump-started the state’s tracking of the virus.
“People went to a ceremony ... they were having a celebration ... people died,” Cuomo said Thursday in Albany.
This week, the state shut down a graduation cermony for New Hartford High School being held over a three-day period at Utica’s Stanley Theater.
The Onondaga County Health Department issued guidelines last month for June ceremonies that discouraged in-person gatherings. The state issued a similar set of recommendations Thursday.
County Executive Ryan McMahon has said the county isn’t in the business of approving or disallowing graduation plans by schools, but districts have been reluctant to go beyond the county recommendations.
Presumably, in Phase 4, the final step in a four-part reopening plan which could begin as soon as June 26, the state would open up enough to allow for larger gatherings.
Here’s what we know about some of the graduation plans:
Baldwinsville
Seniors at C.W. Baker High School will take part in a drive-through graduation starting at 11 a.m. June 21. Graduates will be allowed to walk a stage in front of the school and receive a diploma and take photos. A video recognition of the Class of 2020 will air on at 6 p.m. that night on CW6.
“We absolutely recognize the significance that a graduation ceremony holds," high school principal Chris Denton said. “We’ve noted the pain of not being able to do that.”
That’s why the district is prepared to act quickly if, by June 17, rules on gatherings become more relaxed, he said. A modified, in-person ceremony would be held at the school’s Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium. That celebration may include students only, or it might involve immediate families, according to a letter from school administrators.
A more traditional graduation gathering may be held July 25, if possible.
“We’re going to be prepared to make adjustments,” Denton said.
Central Square
The graduating class at Paul V. Moore High School will walk the stage individually at a drive-up ceremony on June 26 at the school stadium. Seniors and up to eight family members will be escorted into the stadium from a parking area, and the graduates will take the stage while family members watch from a distance.
The school will produce a graduation video that includes speeches and profiles of each graduate, and a slideshow of graduates will be shown on CW6 from 7-7:30 p.m. Friday night.
Cicero-North Syracuse
C-NS senior Jacqueline Cupoli hopes her school will wait for the chance to hold an in-person ceremony so she can celebrate and receive a diploma with, and in front of, her friends.
"We really want the traditional (graduation) because we've worked so hard," said Cupoli, who serves on the Principal's Cabinet at school and is a National Honor Society student.
Cupoli said she and her friends feel that, with schools closing so suddenly, they never got closure for their senior year. Wearing masks and staying apart from friends, while difficult, won’t be a problem, Cupoli said. “I feel like if we have to social distance in order to get anything (in-person), we’ll do that.”
C-NS has plans for a virtual graduation the evening of June 24 to be televised on CW6. On June 25, a drive-up ceremony from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. will allow students to walk a stage in front of their parents.
Cupoli, along with her older sister, Victoria, started an online petition urging administrators to push back to graduation date. She said the school is considering the request. The petition has since been expanded to include all of the county’s high schools.
The school has a backup date of July 24 for a potential in-person ceremony.
Jamesville-DeWitt
A somewhat different approach is being used at J-D.
Graduates and up to five family members will be able to visit the school to be filmed walking the stage in its renovated auditorium, in their caps and gowns, according to a schedule put out by the school.
Video of students walking the stage will be combined with traditional graduation speeches and other elements to make a commencement video.
J-D students also have started an online petition asking school administrators to hold off on the ceremonies.
Liverpool
Liverpool superintendent Mark Potter said his high school has a tentative plan, like C-NS, for a televised virtual ceremony one night (June 19) and a drive-up ceremony the next day. But those plans could change quickly if the state indicates that its orders banning gatherings of more than 10 people might be relaxed.
With 550 graduates, "there's no simple way" to manage a ceremony under the current restrictions, he said.
The district has a contingency plan to have an in-person ceremony outdoors at its stadium later in the summer.
“We’re trying to find that sweet spot for a solution,” Potter said. “As long as people are open-minded and flexible.”
West Genesee
West Genesee has also grappled with the go ahead-or-wait question.
The district decided to go with a June 20 drive up ceremony, where graduates will be able to exit the car and walk a stage.
Superintendent David Bills said the district considered moving the ceremony to July, or even August, but there were no guarantees that social distancing requirements would be relaxed enough to allow the kind of in-person event that everyone wants.
“I accept responsibility for the decision, which was made with a great deal of angst,” Bills said in a video address to parents and students.
The district is also weighing a plan to bring the Class of 2020 together in July to celebrate the graduation.
Ceremonies are planned this weekend at Faith Heritage (Saturday) and Manlius Pebble Hill (Sunday). Bishop Grimes plans a June 13 ceremony, and Bishop Ludden is planning a graduation the weekend of June 19-21.
The Syracuse City School District was close but hadn’t yet finalized plans for graduations for all of its high schools.
Fayetteville-Manlius executive principal Ray Kilmer said the district continues to plan its graduation.
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