Graduation plans taking shape
Superintendent Jody Wiggins shared several options for high school graduation during a virtual school board meeting on Thursday.
Graduation, which was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, is still tentatively planned for 8 p.m. July 17 in Panther Stadium, he said. More details about what the event could look like are taking shape as guidance for large group gatherings develops, he said.
The Chamber of Commerce Honors Luncheon, for honors graduates and their parents, is tentatively planned for July 9 at John Brown University, where there will be enough room to meet social distancing requirements for the event, he said.
Since Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced on Wednesday the state will move to phase 2 of reopening, large outdoor gatherings will be allowed to fill to 2/3 capacity but social distancing requirements will still be in place, Wiggins said. Families will be required to stay six feet apart and attendees will have to wear masks, he said.
The increase from 1/3 to 2/3 capacity will not really impact the number of people who can attend graduation because social distancing is the limiting factor in the stadium, Wiggins said. Families will sit in every other row in groups of two or three individuals, spaced six feet apart from other families, he said.
If the district hosts an in-person graduation ceremony, the approximately 300 students will be placed on the field and a stage will be set up on one end. Parents would be seated in the bleachers, he said. With social distancing practices in place, the bleachers will be able to accommodate about 700 people, or two to three individuals per student depending on how many students decide to participate in the ceremony, Wiggins said.
Other options would include holding a completely or partially virtual graduation ceremony, according to Wiggins. A completely virtual program would feature prerecorded messages and photos of each student streamed online, similar to the scholarship program that took place in May, he said. For a partially virtual program, only students would be brought into the stadium and the ceremony would be livestreamed to patrons, he said.
Other larger districts in the area are considering holding multiple graduation ceremonies over the course of a day or multiple days to limit the number of people in attendance, Wiggins said.
“The feeling is, it is going to be warm (in July) and I would hate to think we go through multiple ceremonies that day and have them out on the hot field,” he said, noting the temperature on the field is usually about 10 degrees hotter than other areas.
Wiggins said he spoke to the superintendents of several other large districts in Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday and all of them are still investigating their options. He hopes to have firm plans in place before the board comes together for a special meeting later this month, he said.