Tacoma announces virtual graduation ceremonies, leaving some high school seniors disappointed
Tacoma Public Schools is making its Class of 2020 graduation ceremonies virtual, leaving some seniors disappointed.
Wilson High School senior Treasure Barrett said she broke down in tears when she heard the news through Facebook last week.
“I started sobbing,” Barrett told The News Tribune by Facebook messenger. “I mean like barely able to breathe I was crying so hard.”
Amid statewide stay-home orders from COVID-19, schools across the nation are moving graduation ceremonies to virtual platforms as a safety precaution.
TPS made the announcement Friday that it would join that list of schools.
“Class of 2020 graduation ceremonies are going virtual! We’d say, ‘Let’s go big or go home,’ but we’re already home, so all we can do is GO BIG!” Tacoma Public Schools stated in a Facebook post. “... Over the next few weeks, we will share events and opportunities to help our students celebrate safely during this unprecedented public health crisis.”
Next week, the district is hosting “Cap and Gown Distribution Parades” for each high school.
“This might be students’ last chance to see teachers and staff in person. We invite you to GO BIG safely. Decorate your vehicles and join us for a parade,” said the TPS post.
The move to virtual ceremonies was an administrative decision, TPS spokesperson Dan Voelpel said Monday. Principals communicated with ASB students from each school on the change.
“With the current information we have from the governor, it does not appear he will allow mass gatherings by the time our graduations are scheduled to occur. So, we needed to start planning now for virtual ceremonies in order to pull off something to honor our seniors,” Voelpel said by text.
If Gov. Jay Inslee changes restrictions to allow for mass gatherings, it’s possible in-person graduations could still happen, Voelpel added.
Virtual graduations are not ideal, Voelpel said.
“We all feel badly about the traditional rites of passage being impossible to carry out. We’re doing all we can within current pandemic precautions to honor seniors,” he said.
For Barrett, losing an in-person graduation feels like being “robbed” of an important rite of passage. Graduating was something she had looked forward to for a long time after moving to Tacoma from Alaska in the seventh grade.
She watched two older sisters graduate at the Tacoma Dome.
“We had such a fun time celebrating and it made me more excited to graduate,” she said. “Some days the only thing that kept me going was the thought of graduating at the dome with my family in the stands cheering for me.”
Her peers feel the same, Barrett said.
“We all feel like we’ve lost something with this virtual graduation,” she said. “When the (Woodrow Wilson Seniors) Instagram page, run by someone in ASB, did a poll, 94% voted to postpone graduation rather than virtual.”
Barrett launched a change.org petition asking Superintendent Carla Santorno to provide some sort of in-person graduation. So far, more than 350 people have signed it.
“I want to clarify that we aren’t asking for normal graduation at the normal time,” Barrett wrote on the petition website. “We understand that in order to be safe it most likely will need to be postponed. We would rather have a postponed normal graduation than one online.”
Tacoma Public Schools is among the first Pierce County school districts to make the switch to a virtual graduation.
Puyallup School District is still discussing options for graduation and is waiting to see what size gathering will be allowed down the road, Puyallup School Board president Kathy Yang told The News Tribune.
“I think generally we would like to see an in-person ceremony rather than virtual even if it means we do it in a series of small groups at each high school,” Yang said in a text.
Bethel School District also has not yet made a decision.
“Last week, principals at our high schools met with seniors via Zoom to get the students’ input on what they wanted graduation to look like,” Bethel spokesperson Douglas Boyles said. “Principals are bringing that input to meetings with senior leadership to make sure students have a voice in the decision.”
