HOWELL –Township Mayor Theresa Berger wanted to see students have an in-person graduation ceremony, especially those Howell students who will also graduate from Freehold Regional High School District.
The mayor recently began a petition which as of May 27 had 1,200 signatures by residents.
She thanked those residents on her Mayor’s Facebook page saying “as a mayor and having a medical degree, I argued that we can do this safely and responsibly. Thank you to everyone who joined me in calling the Governor’s Office and our Monmouth legislators every day in pushing for this and I am glad it has happened.”
Gov. Phil Murphy announced during his May 26 daily press briefing concerning COVID-19 pandemic conditions in the state, that as of July 6, live graduation ceremonies could take place with social distancing guidelines that were sent to school districts the following day.
Berger said in a video posted to her page on May 27 that “we have great news. All graduations will occur after July 6. Those will be in person. Any before, will have to be virtual. High School and grad school graduations will occur. They will maintain social distancing and there might be multiple ceremonies.”
She added that ceremonies for those of kindergarten up to early grade school will not occur. “I hope parents understand. After July 6, there will be no indoor graduation ceremonies only outdoor. There will be multiple ceremonies depending on the amount of students and the amount of students that can fit with faculty in the outdoor venue.
“There will be a minimal amount of staffing to make sure that proper social distancing is enforced. Caps, gowns and diplomas those will be sent to your homes if they haven’t already,” Mayor Berger said.
The mayor said that if you can not get them sent home “you can pick them up and call the schools. You can get them but you have to maintain proper social distancing to get your caps, gowns and diplomas.
“All guidelines must be enforced and we know that the school district will have all the officials that need to be there, police, health, OEM, anyone else that needs to be there will be to ensure that everything will be safe and fun for you and your family,” the mayor added.
Mayor Berger concluded saying, “so, kids, parents we did it. We got through. We worked hard. Thank you for working with me. This was amazing. I look forward to doing more things with everyone out there. Howell, happy graduation!”
The governor stressed during his initial announcement that parents, students and school district staff would need to “comply with social distancing – ensuring the health and safety of all in attendance.”
Murphy’s order allowing outdoor graduation ceremonies to be held applies to middle school and high school graduations, as well as colleges/universities.
Specific guidance was released by the state Department of Education and the Secretary of Higher Education. That guidance allows for multiple graduation ceremonies at different times or spread across multiple days for instances where graduating classes are “too large to accommodate a crowd within the restrictions in place for outdoor gatherings,” Gov. Murphy said.
Gov. Murphy said, “our goal is to ensure our students are given the sendoffs they richly deserve. We want them to celebrate and to be celebrated by their families, friends and educators who helped get them there, but do so safely.”
School districts will have to develop a plan to show how they will adapt their ceremony to meet the health guidelines and restrictions issued by the DOE for their live event.
Some districts may elect to retain their plans of a virtual graduation noting that some students, parents and speakers may not be able to attend a live one during the summer due to vacations or other family plans. As Mayor Berger noted, districts would also have the option to hold virtual and live ceremonies at different times.
