TAMPA — Members of the Hillsborough County School Board said Wednesday they are not convinced that 27 high school graduations will take place next month indoors, as planned.
Despite a modified format designed to spread guests and graduates at a safe distance, board members noted that the district still can switch to a virtual option if COVID-19 statistics continue to worsen.
On Wednesday, a record day for Florida cases, Hillsborough hit a single-day high of 716 new infections.
“The virus will decide,” said School Board member Lynn Gray, adding that she does not intend to take part in the indoor graduations.
Member Tamara Shamburger, who is at home after testing positive for COVID-19, said the district is in a hard place.
“Students and families want that traditional graduation experience. It’s what they worked so hard for, for all of these years,” she said. But, she added, “we do have an obligation to make sure our families are safe and healthy.”
Steve Cona, who represents northwest Hillsborough, said, “I think we can do it safely — until we believe that we can’t. So I think the plan should continue unless we hear otherwise. It’s important that we understand that it’s a fluid situation.”
The graduations, postponed from their original dates in late May and early June, are scheduled to start July 13. All 27 are scheduled at the indoor, air-conditioned Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds, as has been the tradition for years.
Pressed for an update at Tuesday’s School Board meeting, Superintendent Addison Davis said those plans are still underway, and he is working with fairgrounds staff to maximize safety. He cautioned that things can change if numbers continue to spike, but he hopes they will not.
The plan allows each graduate to invite two guests, not four, as envisioned earlier. Only two board members will be on stage, not all seven. The principal will be there and up to 15 other members of the staff, but not the full faculty. With students spread out over the entire floor area, the upper bleachers will hold the guests, also spread out. Guests will have tickets issued by the schools, and the seats will be numbered.
The graduation question has been difficult for school districts everywhere. Pasco County held virtual graduations earlier this month and hopes to follow those with in-person celebrations in August inside the University of South Florida’s Yuengling Center. Pinellas County graduations are planned for outdoors at the Spectrum baseball field in Clearwater.
The Hillsborough plan followed work by a committee that met in April. Most of the committee’s 12 members were, or previously had been, high school principals.
On Wednesday, when asked why they have not questioned the indoor graduation idea, School Board members described pressure from parents and a desire to recognize graduates for their hard work.
They did not raise objections during the board meeting, but some expressed reservations when interviewed on Wednesday.
“I think that given what is happening with the disease, it warrants taking a second look at the plan,” said Stacy Hahn, who represents south Tampa and southeast Hillsborough.
Karen Perez, a district-wide member, said she wishes Davis would consider the fairground’s outdoor amphitheater instead of the indoor Expo Hall.
“I’m in the health care field, and we have been mandated to work from home, so how is that going to look?” she asked. “My fear is that although we request only two guests per student, that some students may not adhere to that. Or some families might be overzealous.
“They want to be there to support their students, but there is also the fact that it is an enclosed area. With the numbers going up right now, it’s beyond concerning to me.”
Member Cindy Stuart of Carrollwood said she wonders how many people will show up. She said she asked Davis for the update Tuesday because misinformation was being passed around.
“I’m getting phone calls from teenagers saying, I have four tickets and I need five,” she said.
Melissa Snively, the board chairwoman, said she discussed the issue with Davis on Wednesday morning and suggested that he send out a survey, “even though people are probably surveyed out.” She wonders if a lot of people have lost interest, or conversely, if the number who are interested will translate into safe crowd sizes.
Hillsborough’s senior classes have as many as 600 students. That means if 500 graduate, as many as 1,500 people could be in the room. There are three or four graduations every day. There will be time in-between to clean the venue, but there also is the need to bring in custodial workers and security staff.
The district on Wednesday issued a detailed list of safety protocols, including signs that will direct people to seats and hand sanitizer, mandatory masks until it is time to pose for a photo, and instructions on how to enter and leave the Expo Hall. Guests will be asked to stay away if they have traveled outside the area within the previous two weeks or if they have symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.
The ceremony will be live-streamed online, so families can watch from home.
“The main thing is that people have choices,” Snively said.
All of the board members said they are frustrated by the rapid changes in attitudes, mandates and contagion statistics from day to day.
“I get that half the people are going to be comfortable in the fairgrounds and excited, and also there are half who will say, ‘there is no way I’m sitting in that building with all those people exposing my kid and myself,‘” Hahn said.
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