Now those ceremonies have been canceled as the ban on mass gatherings is still in place and cases continue to rise, drawing mixed reactions from students and families.
“A lot of districts were hopeful because it is a meaningful experience for not only the students, but then for all the folks that are connected to that student,” said Rusty Clifford, director of administration and operations at the Montgomery County Educational Service Center.
However, he said as the situation evolved, more data was available to help schools make decisions that were in the best interest of students.
“Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the No. 1 concern for any of the districts is the safety and well-being of their students, their parents, the participants, anybody who might attend. Safety is absolutely the No. 1 issue,” he said.
There have been 72,280 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 2,867 cases in Montgomery County as of Friday. A mask mandate is now in place for Montgomery County and 18 other other high-risk counties across Ohio.
Dan Suffoletto, spokesperson for Public Health - Dayton and Montgomery County, said that it is simply not safe to bring large groups of people together yet.
“We’re trying to limit the spread of COVID and stop the emergency rooms and the hospitals from becoming full of people to the point where they can’t handle all the COVID cases plus the regular cases,” he said.
Kodie Wintrow, a class of 2020 graduate at Fairmont High School, said he wasn’t surprised when the ceremony was canceled.
“It really did suck because we went through so many years of getting to that point and then being let down like, ‘Hey, with everything that’s going around we can’t really do what we wanted to safety-wise.’ So it was understandable but still sucked, nonetheless,” he said.
The decision to cancel the July 25 graduation ceremony to be held in Roush Stadium was announced by Fairmont High School Principal Tyler Alexander in a June 19 Facebook post on Kettering City School’s Facebook page.
Alexander said that after conversations with Public Health - Dayton and Montgomery County, it was clear that restrictions in place July 25 would have required social distancing, masks and limiting crowd sizes.
“I am as disappointed as you are that we had to make this decision,” the post reads. “The tradition of an in-person ceremony was something we were hoping to continue, but as with so many other things impacted by the pandemic, this just is not going to be possible, and we feel this decision is in the best interest of the safety and wellness of our graduates, families, and staff.”
Wintrow said he still made the most of his scheduled time to pick up his diploma by putting up balloons and bringing along his siblings in the back of his truck.
Terika Hunt, mother of Huber Heights 2020 graduate Darren Beverly, said that she expected the large ceremony scheduled for July 12 would be canceled and believed the school had done everything it could.
“Nobody knew that this was gonna happen. The school didn’t know that this was gonna happen. It was totally out of their control. I can’t blame them for what’s being done, and I appreciate what they have done,” she said.
Huber Heights Superintendent Mario Basora announced in a June 22 statement that Wayne High School would cancel the large ceremony.
Basora said in the announcement that the school would have needed several weeks to plan the ceremony, but that he was glad to hear students’ experiences with the individualized diploma ceremony the school held over Memorial Day weekend.
“We heard lots of heartwarming stories about grandparents and graduates being able to participate in the smaller, more personal ceremonies who would not have been able to in a traditional ceremony,” he said.
Hunt said the individual ceremony was a nice way to honor students and their accomplishments and that although her son was disappointed about missing out on some of the senior year traditions, he was glad to receive a diploma and is looking forward to the fall when he currently plans to attend Tiffin University.
“I would have much rather had a big ceremony, but under the circumstances, they did a great job,” she said.
Troy High School — which hosted a socially distanced diploma ceremony May 23 and released a video that included speeches from the class president, valedictorian and others — also canceled its plans for a larger July 11 gathering.
The Facebook post announcing the cancellation said that there would not be time to plan the ceremony, as the ban on mass gatherings was still in place at the time of the post.
“To the Class of 2020, this does not in any way detract from what you mean to all of us within the Troy City Schools. Thank you for all you contributed in your years here. We will never forget you and wish each and every one of you all the best in whatever your future may hold,” the post reads.