Graduation Ceremonies At Palo Alto, Gunn Postponed Until December

PALO ALTO, CA – Graduating seniors from the city’s two high schools will not celebrate commencement until December after overwhelmingly rejecting the idea of a virtual ceremony, Palo Alto district officials announced Monday night.

In an online webinar, district superintendent Don Austin made the announcement following a survey of seniors at Palo Alto and Gunn high schools. During the hour-long virtual meeting, Austin said that students made it clear they did not wish to participate in a graduation ceremony that kept them from gathering with their fellow graduates. Current guidelines set in place by state and county officials prohibit large gatherings due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which made it impossible for school officials to offer any other options for graduation other than a virtual ceremony.

Letters were sent to students on Monday making the announcement. Austin said that he did not have a specific date for when graduation ceremonies would take place in December but said that school officials would attempt to work it around a time when students may be home from college.

As the uncertainty of when college campuses could reopen, Austin said it was difficult to be able to make specific plans without knowing what will happen in the future.

In a frequently asked questions section attached to letters that went out to students, school administrators wrote, “The voice of the student body was that they did not want an imitation ceremony.”

Austin said that the district had received suggestion as to possible replacements for the normal graduation ceremony but that they were illegal under current guidelines. Some had suggested a procession of cars or bicycles, but because of limits on gatherings disqualified such suggestions. The district also announced that postponing graduation until the end of summer is not viable.

Austin said that the district is planning an end-of-year, remote weeklong celebration of the senior class.