While graduation services across the country have always been a traditional event to celebrate the milestone of students transitioning into adulthood, the COVID-19 national crisis has Baldwyn school board and administration discussing non-traditional alternatives to hold the 2020 graduation ceremony.
“We understand that graduation is something every student looks forward to and expects it to be a certain way. However, our current health crisis situation has our hands tied to be able to provide the traditional graduation ceremony for our seniors,” Superintendent Jason McKay said.
At this time with the current CDC guidelines and Mississippi Department of Education requirements, Baldwyn High School graduation is being moved from May 22 to June 4, 2020.
“We ask that parents and seniors make this date available as the new graduation date. Please also keep in mind that we will have to adjust according to the current health crisis situation at that time also,” Superintendent McKay added.
“Our school board, administration, and staff are adjusting to plans and possibilities daily to make this graduation ceremony the best it can be for our seniors and their families. We understand this is not the ideal situation for any graduate and their family, but we will have the best ceremony possible while still keeping our staff, students, and their families safe.”
While there are many graduation details that continue to be uncertain until closer to time of assessing the health crisis threat, Baldwyn School District will be sure to provide a live streaming of the 2020 BHS Graduation service for the public and extended families to view.
“At this time we are looking at our graduation ceremony being outside and being limited to graduates with restrictions on family/guest attendance. We will be contacting senior parents and seniors about the details closer to time when more health safety concerns are known,” Superintendent McKay said.
“Again we know this is not the ideal situation or traditional expectations of a graduation ceremony, but with the help of the community we want to offer the best possible graduation ceremony we can for our class of 2020. The ramifications of being over cautious seem great, but the ramifications of not being over cautious could be so much greater.”
