ALTMAR-PARISH-WILLIAMSTOWN – The APW Central School District Superintendent Eric Knuth has sent out the following letter detailing the plans for the seniors’ graduation ceremony.
June 26 there will be a picnic for the seniors and a graduation parade, then the 2020 commencement ceremony is tentatively scheduled for July 17, 2020. The letter is below.
“Thank you for your patience as we worked to develop a graduation plan that provides the class of 2020 with the recognition they deserve while also complying with constantly changing regulations and guidelines from New York State.
Given all the changing information and constant misinformation, I assure you we share in your frustration. It is our sincere desire to have a traditional commencement ceremony where all of our students and community gather in celebration, the way this has been done for generations. Given executive orders issued by the Governor’s office that limit our ability to hold large social gatherings, the traditional ceremony is impossible at this time.
Prior to June 7 the Governor’s executive order limited public gatherings to 10 individuals. This week in his June 7 announcement, Governor Cuomo lifted restrictions now allowing no more than 150 individuals to gather publicly. While this new announcement created additional options, the size of our graduating class does not allow for all of our students to graduate together while including any of the family and friends so eager to come out and support them as they cross the finish line at APW.
In a series of work groups including students, parents, teachers, administrators and members of our Board of Education we discussed options over the past several weeks. In those meetings our seniors repeatedly expressed their desire to be together and graduate as a single APW class. Given the state imposed limit of 150 individuals for public gatherings, this is not currently possible in a single ceremony while including additional student guests.
That being said we continue to see restrictions lifted all around us. Manhattan opened for business this week, stores and restaurants are opening up, non-essential employees are able to return to work in-person, and we are even seeing the beginning of some limited live instruction to occur over the summer months. In our final work group we discussed several ideas including the option of delaying commencement to allow additional time for restrictions to subside.
On Monday we presented our seniors with a survey to select their preference of the 3 options described below.
1) A drive through ceremony where students walk the stage individually by appointment over 2 days on June 25 and June 26. Only the students and immediate family would be permitted to attend.
2) A drive in ceremony where the students are called from their cars to walk the stage and each student would be permitted to bring 2 guests. This would happen in 2, back to back ceremonies on June 26 to comply with the 150 person limitation and adhere to social distancing rules. Only the students would be permitted to exit their vehicles.
3) Option 3 is to wait until mid-July to allow additional time for restrictions to ease in hopes that we could give the students the ceremony they desire while graduating as a single class with an abundance of family and friends in attendance.
***Overwhelmingly students who responded chose option 3.
With that, our 2020 commencement ceremony is tentatively scheduled for July 17, 2020. We will share additional details and information in the coming weeks. While the public gathering restriction limits our options for commencement, there is still quite a bit we can do for our students, the class of 2020.
• On Friday June 26th at 3:30 all APW seniors are invited to campus for a senior class picnic. Students will have the opportunity to be together as one class on campus to socialize, take photos and say a final goodbye to their Alma Mater. Food and refreshments will be provided. This event is limited to APW seniors only. Masks and social distancing are required for all participants.
• At 5:30 we invite the entire community to join us as we lead a graduation car parade throughout our entire community. We are coordinating this event with the assistance of local police, fire and highway officials. Instructions will follow.
There are a great deal of logistics involved in coordinating these events so additional details and instructions will follow from Mr. Olsen and Mrs. Moses at our Junior Senior High School. We know that our inability to provide the traditional graduation experience this year is disappointing and we share in that disappointment. Perhaps this is an opportunity to start new traditions at APW. To the class of 2020 and on behalf of the faculty, administration and board of education we congratulate you and thank you for your resilience as you have endured so many changes throughout this pandemic.
Regards,
Eric Knuth Superintendent of Schools”
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