South Fayette Schools plan in-person or virtual graduation ceremony July 16
Pandemic or not, the South Fayette School District will have a graduation ceremony for its seniors July 16, though it remains to be seen whether it will be in person or happen virtually.
Despite the district’s buildings having been closed for the remainder of the academic year and its students dispersed to their homes due to the coronavirus, Superintendent Kenneth Lockette said at the district’s school board meeting Tuesday that there will be “a myriad of different opportunities to celebrate our seniors.”
An in-person ceremony will happen only if restrictions are lifted on gatherings of large groups and social distancing is eased. A prom is also set for July 21, but only if it is deemed safe.
Meanwhile, through the digital program FlipGrid, each student in South Fayette’s Class of 2020 will be able to send a message to their classmates through a short video. Personalized yard signs for each student will also be dropped off at the home address of each graduate.
Even as the Class of 2021 takes center stage in the fall, the Class of 2020 will be honored at a football game in the fall, with the date to be determined.
“We’ll continue to celebrate them, hopefully in the fall,” Lockette said. “We’re putting together some things to celebrate our seniors.”
The likelihood of any in-person graduation ceremonies happening in Pennsylvania this spring was cast into further doubt earlier this week when Rachel Levine, the commonwealth’s health secretary, said she believed it was “a fair assumption” that graduation ceremonies will be handled remotely.
“Large groups of people will not be able to congregate for those ceremonies,” she said.