Guilford's Class Of 2020 To Walk After Graduation Outcry

GUILFORD, CT —The May 22 email to seniors from Guilford High School principal Rick Misenti spelled out the details for the June 17 graduation of the Class of 2020.

This was the plan:

At 9 p.m. on the Guilford Fair Grounds, the Class of 2020 graduation ceremony would begin “in a ‘drive-in movie’ type arrangement with a large, portable screen. But before getting in to the drive-in, there were very strict guidelines: one car per family, even if there is more than one graduating, or if parents are divorced or separated and if anyone in the car was not a family member, they must wear masks inside the car. Each car permitted in based on those guidelines would have a hang tag that permits the family vehicle to enter the graduation site. Once admitted, everyone must stay in their vehicle with windows up for the duration, Then, a graduation video begins with the broadcast in each car via FM radio and a YouTube video would play simultaneously “so that any family members and/or friends not attending the on-site ceremony can view graduation from their homes. When it’s over, the graduate’s diploma cover and their ‘swag bag’ (this bag will include a t-shirt, gift cards, etc.) would be put in the trunk of each graduate’s vehicle. Diplomas will be distributed at the high school later in the week.

“Preposterous,” is how it was described by parent Tara Santa Barbara.

"How does this work for divorced folks who have been quarantined separately or simply hate each other? If you have twins or triplets," she asked noting that having "your kid in a cap and gown crumpled in the back seat? Pathetic and too sad. Rather stay home." And, the idea of a 9 p.m. graduation to "enhance the video ...so crazy." And about having vehicles park 6 feet apart, "even though we cannot exit the vehicle nor roll our windows down? So June is summer sort of, right? We have nearly 280 graduates. So almost 300 cars running for a minimum of 90 minutes on the grass parking area of the Guilford Fairgrounds. Good thinking. And "as vehicles exit at the conclusion, pop your trunk and staff will toss in your diploma cover and a swag bag with a T-shirt. Yikes."

“The plan was just so sterile but the worst part is that the kids were not asked. Graduations are about the graduates, and they should have a say in their ceremony," she said.

Santa Barbara was not alone.

She texted Beth Kozarec, mother of the Class of 2020's salutatorian, and then soon, a campaign was begun to not only re-think the plan, but to get students involved in the planning, something the school had not done.

“We feared that our admin was going to hand down a plan that was all virtual, so we agreed to both send emails. Then I told my social circle to the same and so did she,” she said.

They did not hear back but that silence put the moms in high gear, she said.

"We saw what other towns were doing like West Haven —over 1000 COVID-19 cases Guilford just hit 103, with 10 fatalities as of Friday with only one fatality outside a nursing home — and North Branford, Ellington, Newington, Madison. And the list goes on. But the kicker was that Greenwich who was ground zero and just devastated by this pandemic figured out a way for their kids to walk. They had a strict plan but it was still nothing like Guilford's. "

“We got a hold of every senior parent contact we could get our hands on and emailed them asking them to join our movement for revisions to this awful plan. We asked them to email and they did. We asked them to ask their students to send video emails, and they did. We sent them plans from other towns and carefully thought out plans of our own. We made sure everyone knew that safety had to be paramount, and we understood and respected that. The response was astounding.

“The real difference that was so apparent was that (Guilford's) plan lacked any type of creativity or sympathy for the kids. It was handed down dictator-style and no one would speak to us. Other schools seemed to say, "Wow this is a pandemic, and we still need to graduate these kids, lets get creative.' We just shut down."

After an email campaign, "the principal reached out to invite each senior to a group Zoom meeting to hear their thoughts. He was emotional and choked up in several of these meetings. After all it is easy to make these type of decisions when you do not have to see it on the faces of those directly affected. He promised to share everyone's ideas with the superintendent and the board of health director."

A week later, parents got an email "saying that our voices and those of our kids had been heard, and they were willing to revise the current plan but put it put to a vote."

The students were asked finally, 'what do you want.'

There were three options. One hundred and ninety-three students replied.

Option 1 – Drive-In Style Prerecorded Ceremony: 22 responses, 11.4%

Option 2 – Driven-In Style Prerecorded Ceremony with Photo Op: 8 responses, 4.15%

Option 3 – Live Graduation with Health and Safety Guidelines: 163 responses, 84.5%

"We will be moving forward with Option 3," the message to families read. The graduation will begin at 6 p.m. at the Guilford Fairgrounds on Lovers Lane.

Santa Barbara said Misenti “knew he made an error by not including the kids in his plan. It showed on his face in the Zoom calls. The important thing is that he made it right in the end."