Pictured above is a placeholder on Youtube for the Marysville 2020 graduation ceremony video. The video, featuring prerecorded messages and highlighting graduates, will be released on May 23. Though the placeholder says 6 p.m., officials said the video will be released at 7 p.m. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
Marysville will hold a virtual graduation ceremony for the class of 2020, a fitting end to a school year marked by distance learning and virus-related upheaval.
Marysville School Board members held an online meeting Thursday and went over plans for the event, which will essentially be a pre-recorded video piecing together various elements of a traditional graduation. The video will be released on Youtube at 7 p.m. May 23, the original planned time and date of graduation.
Postponing the event at this point doesn’t work because of the fluid nature of the pandemic and district officials said they simply couldn’t feel certain that any date in the summer would be safe.
“What was really tearing at our hearts is we can’t commit to a date,” superintendent Diane Allen said.
Allen said high school principals have been seeking input from the families of senior students in regard to graduation. Those contacted wanted to see their children graduate in the new Marysville football stadium, she said, but when that might be possible is unknown. The class of 2020 would have been the first to graduate in the new stadium, after construction on the facility forced the class of 2019’s ceremony to be relocated to the Columbus Convention Center.
Allen said 3,000-4,000 people traditionally attend Marysville’s graduation and comments from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recently make it appear unlikely that a crowd that size would be allowed to gather in the coming months. The superintendent noted that even if a date in August was selected, many students will have reported for military service or left early for college.
“We feel as if we owe them a ceremony that is their night, even if it’s just virtual,” Allen said.
The exact process of getting diplomas into the hands of graduates is still up in the air. The superintendent said district officials will work to determine a process to distribute diplomas closer to the graduation date.
While the students will not get to walk across the stage for graduation, Allen said the video will highlight the individual graduates.
Allen said that the district will plan an actual celebration for 2020 graduates when restrictions on mass gatherings are lifted. That could come late in the summer, but she noted that it is possible that getting students back together might not be possible until December.
“We’ll plan a celebration, of sorts, whenever that can take place,” Allen said. “Maybe over winter break.”
Board member Dick Smith said a recent virtual town hall meeting of school board members from around the state focused heavily on districts’ plans for graduation during the pandemic. He said many are resolved to using a virtual graduation ceremony similar to Marysville’s plan.
“Make no mistake, we don’t think it will ever replace what they expected to end their year, but we’ll do everything we can to make it as special as we can,” Allen said.
Graduation is just the latest of numerous events to be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Prom has been postponed, Allen said, as have all other senior events and trips. A final decision on the high school sports season is planned for May 1, but even an abbreviated season is appearing less and less likely.
Returning students to school is technically still on the table for May and officials are currently trying to look at issues such as classroom social distancing, masks and staggering lunch periods should that happen. Allen said even if students don’t return to class this year, those same logistical issue could apply to the start of school next year.
The virus has also impacted teacher evaluations and pushed back dates for open enrollment applications.
“It’s really a surreal way to do school at this point,” Allen said.