Placer school district announces in-person graduation ceremonies for high schools

Placer Union High School District announced Wednesday it will hold in-person graduation ceremonies for its seven high schools and their seniors in July.

The ceremonies, which include Del Oro and Placer High Schools, will be conducted with precautions and no more than 50 graduates will be present at one time, according to a letter from Superintendent George Sziraki to families and the community.

It is unclear what the stay-at-home orders will look like over the summer under the terms of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s phases to reopen the state.

Seniors throughout the district voted overwhelmingly for in-person summer ceremonies. Nearly 90 percent said they would rather have a ceremony with some of their classmates rather than a virtual ceremony.

“Public health and safety will continue to be in the forefront of our plans as we provide our graduates with a commencement to remember,” read the statement from Sziraki. “Be it the entire class of 2020 or cohorts of the class, investigating all roads for a traditional graduation is the right thing to do.”

Alison Isaac, 17, is a graduating senior at Del Oro High School. She voted to have an in-person ceremony with 49 of her other classmates.

“I am very grateful for how hard our district is working to make our ceremony special,” she said. “As a senior, I am very sad to not finish out what is said to be some of the best four years of our lives, but keeping a positive outlook on the situation has made me appreciate the precious time I’ve had in high school. Even though our event won’t be the classic high school graduation, I know our 2020 class will go down in history.”

Isaac is headed to Sierra College in the fall, which has already committed to an online fall term.

Other school districts in the region have largely announced virtual commencements for their graduating classes. School districts like Twin Rivers Unified and San Juan Unified have opted for virtual ceremonies to celebrate their graduating class.

San Juan Unified said it will look at in-person opportunities over the summer if health guidelines adjusted.

This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 10:47 AM.